State Govt asked to submit details on relief measures for farmers

Nagpur, Aug 7 (UNI) Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High court today directed the State Government to submit a list of farmers who had committed suicide in the Vidarbha region and also the extent of relief provided to the farmers so far.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an NGO, the bench, comprising justices R M S Khandeparkar and S R Dongaonkar, said the State Government had failed to satisfy the court on the implementation of the relief package as announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh duing his visit to Vidarbha on June 1. The Government has also failed to say why the farmers continued to commit suicide in the region despite announcement of the package.

The court has fixed the next hearing for August 16 and directed the State Government to submit details regarding the relief measures.

Earlier, the court had imposed a fine of Rs 1000 each on 13 top bureaucrats, including the Chief Secretary, for their failure to take cognisance of the court's notice to file replies. The Government had apologised for the same.

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