Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate on Friday in the Maharashtra assembly said that the government will not tolerate those who play with the lives of food-giving farmers in any way saying that strict action will be taken against those who sell bogus seeds, pesticides and fertilizers to farmers.

He was replying to a question raised by member Kashinath Date regarding the irregularities in the sale of cotton seeds in Pachegaon (tehsil Nevasa, District Ahilyanagar).

Minister Kokate said that in the inspection campaign for selling bogus seeds, pesticides and fertilisers to farmers, the licenses of the sellers found guilty will be revoked and criminal cases will be registered against them and action will be taken as per the law.

During an inspection of M/s Trimurti Agro Center in Pachegaon, it was found that seeds were being sold at an exorbitant rate, and therefore their seed sales license and cotton sales license have been permanently cancelled.

“To ensure quality seeds are available to farmers, 15 flying squads have been deployed in Ahilyanagar district. So far, the Agriculture Department has registered 2 cases under the Seeds Act and 3 under the Fertilizer Control Act and seized stocks worth Rs 12.34 lakhs. It has also suspended/cancelled 35 input sales licenses that violated the law,” he said.

Meanwhile, revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said in the state assembly that a special protection scheme is currently in place for leased land for residential purposes in Amravati and Nagpur divisions of Vidarbha. A decision will be taken to extend this scheme by one year. Minister Bawankule said , in this regard, as per the government decision on March 16, 2024, this special protection scheme is applicable to lands leased for residential purposes through auction and other means.

“There is a provision to levy a surcharge of two percent of the market value of the prevailing annual rate statement for such unclaimed lands. This protection scheme was operational till July 31, 2025. The decision to extend this scheme by one year and implement it till July 30, 2026 will be taken with the approval of the Cabinet,” he said.

–IANS

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