The Maharashtra government on Tuesday approved schemes worth ₹700 crore, including two packages for the Ramoshi and Wadar communities. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier held meetings with the Ramoshi and Wadar communities in September and December respectively.
The State Cabinet has also approved ₹250 crores for the OBC corporation while a sum of ₹300 crore has been allotted to the SC/ST corporation.
Earlier the state government had in December approved ₹150 crores as a relief to onion farmers in the state. Maharashtra, the top producer of onions in India, was suffering from growing agrarian crisis as a result of which the farmers were forced to sell fresh onions at prices as low as ₹1.50 a kg.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis declared an ex gratia payment of Rs 200 per quintal for onions sold between November 1 and December 15, 2018. Also, there is an upper limit of 200 quintals per farmer.
The state government had earlier implemented 16 percent reservation in jobs and education for the Maratha community.
Earlier on January 8, the state cabinet Tuesday approved the Maharashtra State Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SMART) project in a bid to give a boost to the agriculture sector.
The Rs 2200 crore project will be funded by the World Bank to the extent of 70 per cent (Rs 1554 crore) in the form of a loan, a release issued by the Chief Minister’s office stated.