Bhubaneswar: The deadline has been extended for farmers in Odisha to report crop damage due to unseasonal rains, and claim compensation for the loss suffered by them to January 1.
Initially, the last date for reporting crop loss was December 29. However, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday extended the deadline to December 31.
On Monday, the government further extended the deadline to January 1 with a view to include more affected farmers, official sources said.
As unseasonal rain caused extensive damage to crops, the state government has decided to help the affected farmers. The Chief Minister reviewed the situation and visited Nayagarh, Gajapati and Ganjam districts and assessed the damage on Sunday. Other Ministers also visited the affected areas in different districts.
The government has decided to provide assistance to both insured and uninsured farmers who have suffered crop loss.
On the instruction of the Chief Minister, the state government had requested the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment to extend time for the affected farmers to report crop loss. Keeping in view the interests of the farmers, the Central government has extended the time for three more days. Therefore, farmers can now inform the insurance companies about the crop loss till January 1, 2025, the CM’s office said in a statement.
The Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for this sympathetic attitude of the Central government towards the farmers of Odisha.
