Portfolios to be allocated to Maharashtra ministers soon, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said portfolios would be allocated to the newly-appointed ministers in the state soon.

He also assured that the government would soon release the compensation for crop losses suffered by the state farmers due to heavy rains.

Talking to reporters at the airport here, Fadnavis congratulated Chandrashekhar Bawankule on his appointment as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Maharashtra unit president.

"Portfolios will be allocated to the new ministers soon," he said in response to a query.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expanded his two-member ministry on Tuesday, 41 days after taking oath as the CM. He inducted 18 ministers - nine each from his rebel Shiv Sena group and the BJP. With this, the strength of Maharashtra ministry has now gone up to 20, less than half the maximum allowed strength of 43. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30, when Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM.

The deputy chief minister said the crop loss compensation announced by the government for farmers will be distributed soon and added that the area of crop damages is still increasing.

"The compensation will soon be released after calculating losses from all these affected areas," he said.

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to double the amount of compensation which the farmers affected by the excessive rains in July are entitled to get. "As per the current NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) norms, a farmer receives Rs 6,800 per hectare as compensation. We have decided to double the amount," CM Shinde had told reporters after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Talking about Bawankule, Fadnavis said he has been a very staunch worker of the BJP, who rose from the lower rungs and went on to hold various important positions in the organisation.

"Bawankule performed very well in all the responsibilities given to him by the party," the deputy CM said.