UPSC Darpan

Agriculture & FoodGS315 October 2026

Maharashtra to pay ₹5,000 to up to 1.45 crore farmers before Diwali; drought in 305 of 358 tehsils

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The news

Mumbai, October 14. With drought declared in 305 of Maharashtra’s 358 tehsils, 40 added on Wednesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced after the Cabinet meeting that the State will transfer ₹5,000 each into the bank accounts of an estimated 1.25 to 1.45 crore farmers before Diwali, The Indian Express reports. Cost: ₹6,000–7,000 crore; eligibility is not final. The State treats it as an advance against the pending central package: the Centre’s “rules, stages and dates”, Fadnavis said, cannot be completed before Diwali, so the State is not waiting for the usual December payment. The monsoon withdrew early and Marathwada is on tankers. The All India Kisan Sabha called it a “cruel joke”: past advances became the final package. It is the third State this month, after Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, to declare drought over most of its area.

The chain in one line: Monsoon withdraws early → State applies the Manual’s triggers; 305 tehsils declared → central package needs memorandum, central team, committee → State pays ₹5,000 flat as an advance → Centre’s money arrives later and is set off → farmer has cash at Diwali; fairness later

Static syllabus linkage

  1. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 creates both funds. Section 46 constitutes the National Disaster Response Fund and Section 48 the State Disaster Response Fund. The Centre fills the SDRF 75:25 for general States and 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan States, a pattern the 15th and 16th Finance Commissions kept; NDRF releases need a High Level Committee chaired by the Union Home Minister.
  2. The Manual for Drought Management, 2016 sets the procedure. It lays down the two triggers, the moderate and severe categories, deadlines of October 30 for kharif and March 31 for rabi, and NDRF help only for severe drought after a memorandum and a central team’s visit. Over 75% irrigation lets a State lower the category one rank.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Is flat cash relief paid first by the State better than per-hectare norms paid later by the Centre?. GS3 lists “disaster and disaster management”; GS2 lists “issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances”. Dimensions: speed against fairness, the funding sequence, relief against drought-proofing.

Prelims nuggets

  • The National and State Disaster Response Funds are constituted under Sections 46 and 48 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
  • Under the Manual for Drought Management, 2016, Trigger 1 is rainfall deviation and Trigger 2 is any three of sown area, vegetation index, soil moisture and hydrology.
  • NDRF help for drought comes only for the severe category after an Inter-Ministerial Central Team’s report; the Additional Secretary, Agriculture, is the Central Drought Relief Commissioner.

Analysis

  1. A flat ₹5,000 buys speed by giving up fairness; the farmer with more land pays for it. Relief that varies with loss must first measure loss through crop-cutting and land records, which takes until December; a flat sum skips the measurement. The price shows in the norms: at ₹8,500 a hectare, a two-hectare rainfed farmer is due ₹17,000 under the SDRF scale against ₹5,000 now, and the Kisan Sabha fears the advance becomes the final payment. The counter-view: most farmers are small, and they get nearly the scale amount two months earlier. Speed is fair only if the balance is paid.
  2. Lens — federal: the State pays first because the Centre decides later. The Manual’s sequence, declaration, memorandum, central team, committee, exists so the Centre pays only for verified drought. The same sequence means NDRF money cannot reach a farmer before Diwali, so a State fronts the cash and nets it off later; Karnataka asked the NDRF for ₹11,000 crore and must wait. The counter-view: verification stops States declaring drought generously to draw central money. The remedy is a clock on each step, not removing the steps.
  3. Drought every year in Marathwada makes relief the expensive option; the Manual already says so. Relief is paid again each failed season; irrigation and crop choice are paid once. The Manual rewards resilience: a State with more than 75% irrigation may lower its drought category by one rank. The honest objection: watershed and micro-irrigation take years; a farmer with a dead crop needs cash now. Resilience replaces relief only next season, and only if funded now.

Possible Mains question

Flat cash relief paid by the State before the Centre decides is faster but not fairer. Critically examine with reference to Maharashtra’s drought advance. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Critically examine. Weigh speed against fairness from both sides and judge the design.
  2. Introduction — an advance against a package that has not arrived. Sample: Maharashtra’s ₹5,000 to up to 1.45 crore farmers in 305 drought-hit tehsils is an advance from State funds against a central package that cannot arrive before Diwali.
  3. Body — speed is real because measurement is skipped. A flat sum needs only a list and bank accounts; per-hectare relief needs crop-cutting. Value addition: ₹8,500 a hectare would give a two-hectare rainfed farmer ₹17,000.
  4. Body — the federal sequence explains the advance. Flowchart: triggers → State declaration → memorandum → central team → High Level Committee → NDRF release; mark Diwali.
  5. Body — relief every year is the costliest design. The Manual’s 75% irrigation clause rewards resilience.
  6. Conclusion — pay now, settle by scale, buy water with the package. Sample: As the State I would pay ₹5,000 by Diwali, pay the per-hectare balance after crop-cutting, and put the central package into irrigation so relief is not needed next year.

Administrator's brainstorm

As Divisional Commissioner, Marathwada, you have ten days to clean the ₹5,000 beneficiary list; Collectors report duplicates and dead holders in PM-KISAN. What do you do?

My options: send the PM-KISAN list raw and correct later, hold the transfer until every tehsil certifies, or clean in parallel. Sending it raw pays dead and duplicate entries and brings recovery notices to the poorest; holding misses Diwali. I would clean in parallel: match the list against 7/12 land records and Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts, pay matched names at once, post unmatched names at each gram panchayat for three days of claims, then rerun, with a reason and an appeal for every exclusion. Stakeholders: farmers, tehsil staff, the treasury, the Centre. The deciding value: public money reaches the right hand on time; both halves bind.