Union Government has sanctioned the financial assistance of Rs 3,050 crore for the drought affected regions in Maharashtra. The decision was taken at a High-Level Committee meeting held in New Delhi yesterday under the chairmanship of Union Home minister Rajnath Singh. <br/><br/>The committee examined the proposals on the basis of report of the Central Teams which visited the drought-affected parts of the state and approved the assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund.<br/><br/>Welcoming the announcement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Devendra Fadnavis said that the Centre's assistance towards the drought relief was the biggest-ever to the state for any natural disaster. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India. <br/><br/>While speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he sought to corner the Opposition parties, who had made the drought relief a major issue during the just concluded Winter Session of the State Legislature in Nagpur, saying that there could not be a more befitting reply to those who have been only doing politics on the drought instead of uniting to help farmers in the times of distress.<br/><br/>Earlier, the state had demanded financial assistance to the tune of 4,000 crore rupees for the relevant measures through the memorandum presented to the Centre last month. The immediate assistance of 940 crore rupees was already given to the state from the NDRF for the same purpose.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the main Opposition party Congress has sharply reacted to the announcement saying the assistance amount is quite meagre and comes as a major disappointment to the distressed farmers. The State Unit Chief Ashok Chavan has called it as a great injustice to the hapless farmers while the Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has sought to know the quantum of per hectare compensation to the distressed farmers as they have already been denied the loan waiver.<br/><br/>Leader of Opposition in the Council and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde has described the assistance as too little and too late and asked the Government to reach the all necessary help to needy farmers in time and prevent any further damage.