Maharashtra Budget: Centre pays lip service to farmers, says Ajit Pawar

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar 6 (ANI): While presenting the maiden budget of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accused the Centre of not doing enough for the farmers and claimed that the latter did not approve funds to help smallholders recover from crop loss.
"Central government did not approve funds last year for farmers who faced crop loss due to rainfall. Centre only approved around Rs 956 crores. So instead of waiting for Centre's help, we took the initiative to help the farmers," he said.
Pawar also spoke on the coronavirus scare and claimed that because of deadly virus "Indian economy is facing a great loss...I am not saying this is to criticise the Central Government over current economic conditions but it is a fact."
Talking about steps to be taken by the state government for the safety of women, Pawar said that soon all districts will have women police stations in which all the officials will be females only.
He further stated that the Chief Minister's Water Conservation Scheme is being introduced, and Rs 2000 crore has been allocated to the Water and Soil Conservation department for this.
"In the next five years, 5,000 solar agricultural pumps will be set up to provide electricity to farmers at night. Rs 670 crore has been set aside for it."
In a bid to encourage people to preserve the language of Maharashtra, the Deputy Chief Minister announced, "To make awareness about the Marathi language, a Marathi Bhasha Bhavan will be constructed in Mumbai." (ANI)