Correspondent, 26 October: Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued clear orders directing Shiv Sena leaders to stop wasting time on political allegations and counter-allegations, urging them instead to go directly to the fields to assist drought-affected farmers. He instructed party MPs, MLAs, ministers, and office-bearers to stand firmly behind the farmers throughout the entire relief process, from submitting applications to completing crop damage assessments (panchnamas).
Providing guidance during a video conference meeting, Shinde reminded the leaders of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray's guiding principle of "80 percent social work and 20 percent politics." Highlighting recent efforts in connection with the Dussehra rally, he noted that the Shiv Sena has dispatched 460,000 grain kits intended for 179 drought-hit talukas across the state. Shinde emphasized that local office-bearers bear the responsibility of ensuring these essential items and aid reach genuinely needy individuals. Due to severe water shortages, he also mentioned that the party is considering deploying water tankers to villages.
The Deputy Chief Minister instructed cabinet and guardian ministers not to limit their work to official meetings but to conduct regular tours of their respective drought-affected jurisdictions. He urged them to visit villages, markets, and farms to establish direct communication with farmers, women, agricultural laborers, and animal herders. Warning that the severe current circumstances could lead farmers to extreme thoughts like suicide, Shinde directed Shiv Sainiks to intervene promptly and provide them with moral support.
To ensure that no eligible farmer is deprived of assistance due to missing documents or administrative delays, ministers have been ordered to review the administration's progress every 15 days. They must maintain an aid "record book" to personally verify that relief is reaching all areas. Shinde also directed leaders to focus specifically on crop damage compensation, crop loan restructuring, electricity for agricultural pumps, employment generation, and drinking water access.
Giving drinking water the highest priority, Shinde ordered officials to plan water management for the upcoming 15 to 30 days while evaluating the necessity for tankers and the current condition of wells and borewells. He also called for attention to cattle camps, fodder, water, and veterinary services for livestock. Furthermore, he appealed to party members to avoid spending resources on felicitations, grand events, pandals, advertising, and political power displays during the drought, urging them to divert those resources toward relief work instead.
Addressing financial exploitation, Shinde announced that concrete administrative decisions will be taken to stop the harassment of farmers by banks, microfinance companies, or private moneylenders, and asked office-bearers to monitor this process. He stressed that relief must be distributed to everyone regardless of their caste, political party, or ideology. Shinde assured that important suggestions from party officials will be presented in the next cabinet meeting and indicated his readiness to write to the central government regarding federal demands. He expressed confidence that if the Shiv Sena organization works shoulder-to-shoulder with the government machinery, farmers will undoubtedly receive substantial relief.
