Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to submit a revised proposal related to drought. Mr. Pawar assured the Chief Minister that the revised plan would be favourably considered by the Union government.

As part of their 3-day tour of India’s four drought-affected states, an eight member team led by Mr. Pawar today visited Maharashtra. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan informed the team that over 11,000 villages in 145 talukas of Maharashtra, are facing a drought-like situation.

Addressing reporters at a press conference after the meeting, Mr. Pawar said that as an emergency relief measure, the Union government will release 367 crore rupees to fulfill the demands of drinking water and additional fifty days of work, will be provided under the MGNREGA scheme.

Mr. Pawar said that the situation looked grim in Central Maharashtra and Marathwada regions. He said that the government will take requisite action after reviewing all the drought affected states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana. He said that the Empowered Group of Ministers on drought, will meet next week and decide on further course of action. He added that firstly, the state government has to officially declare the number of talukas affected by drought and submit a detailed plan on how it proposes to mitigate its effect. Mr. Pawar said, the Central government will then look favourably to the demands made by the drought affected states and release funds.