In a gesture of solidarity this Diwali, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived in the rural lanes of Nagpur ’s Lohari Sawanga village on Saturday night. Skipping grand festivities, he walked right into the home of farmer Rambhau Balpande to spend the holiday with farming families, acquainting himself with their daily hardships amid the state’s drought crisis.
Fadnavis and his cabinet colleagues are spending time in rural households this Diwali to lift the spirits of farmers reeling under drought. Farmers are also worried about irrigation and water shortages. Due to poor rainfall and weather conditions like El Niño , crops such as cotton, soybean and tur have taken a hit.
“While there is no immediate solution to the drought, the government will provide all the assistance it can to the farmers. In the meantime, we want to ensure that their spirits remain high. After dinner, Fadnavis interacted with around 100 villagers at a gathering in the gram panchayat premises. For nearly an hour and 15 minutes, he discussed their agricultural distress, irrigation, crop conditions and local issues.
Assuring farmers that the government stood firmly behind them, he said the state would extend financial assistance and implement further welfare measures to help them tide over the crisis. Interacting with them and celebrating Diwali together will help achieve this,” the chief minister said on Saturday.
Next, he reached Balpande’s modest tiled-roof home at 8.30 pm. Here, he was welcomed by Balpande, his wife, two sons, daughters-in-law and other women from the village, who performed an aarti and applied tilak. The chief minister chatted warmly with the family and inquired about their farming-related difficulties. He also affectionately picked up and played with Balpande’s one-year-old granddaughter. When dinner was served, Fadnavis sat cross-legged on a wooden platform and enjoyed a simple, traditional Maharashtrian meal . The menu included vegetables, dal-rice, chapatis and bharli vangi (stuffed brinjal). The intimate dinner with the farmer’s family was part of the chief minister’s effort to spend Diwali with those bearing the brunt of the agrarian crisis.
