An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today approved over 1,200 crore rupees relief package for Maharashtra.

Out of the total amount, 807 crore rupees will be released under the National Disaster Relief Fund to 3,905 villages in the state where drought has affected rabi crops.

The rest 400 crore rupees will be released under the National Horticulture Mission to 1,100 villages where drought has hit kharif crops. Of the total 34 districts in Maharashtra, the worst- affected are Solapur, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Satara, Beed and Nashik.

The situation is also serious in Buldhana, Latur,
Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalna, Jalgaon and Dhule districts. Last year,778 crore rupees was approved to the state under this fund to mitigate losses to crop.

The EGoM has approved drought relief packages for Kerala and other states as well.