Gujarat minister: Rs 8,740 crore paid to 30.25 lakh farmers as crop damage compensation

Gandhinagar: The state govt provided assistance of Rs 8,740 crore so far to 30.55 lakh farmers in the state for widespread unseasonal rainfall in Oct last year, which caused huge damage to standing crops in several districts.In reply to a question by Jamalpur-Khadia Congress MLA Imran Khedawala in the assembly on Friday, state agriculture minister Jitu Vaghani said that the govt received 30,71,823 applications from farmers for crop damage compensation. Of these, 30,25,447 farmers received compensation, while 34,564 were yet to be paid. Vaghani said that the remaining applications with "technical issues" will also be resolved soon. The Gujarat govt announced a Rs 10,000 crore relief package to provide financial aid to farmers affected by heavy rain. Participating in a discussion on the subject during question hour, Congress MLAs sought to know if the state govt intended to reintroduce the crop insurance scheme for farmers.