The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (November 4) said it will hear the petition highlighting the woes of the landless labourers and marginal farmers due to drought, on November 18, and therefore asked the Maharashtra Government to furnish copies of any schemes meant for drought-affected persons across the State.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna asked Advocate General Dr Milind Sathe to furnish the details of any such schemes which are meant for helping the people affected by the droughts in the State, before November 18, the day when the court will hear the petition filed by Swabhimani Mazdoor Sanghatan.

"You bring all the relevant schemes meant for drought-affected persons... So that even we have a clear idea about the same before hearing the matter in detail," CJ Tripathi said.

To this, AG Sathe, who was assisted by Additional Government Pleader Priyabhushan Kakade assured the court that the requisite details would be provided.

The plea filed by Swabhimani Mazdoor Sanghatan was listed for hearing, however due to paucity of time, the bench could not hear the same and thus, said that it would hear this matter on the first day of court re-opening post the Diwali vacations on November 18.

The petitioner is a registered Union of rural workers, who have filed the instant PIL on behalf of landless labourers, marginal farmers, migrant workers and agricultural workers of Maharashtra. The petition has been filed through Senior Advocate Mihir Desai and advocate Devyani Kulkarni.

"The members of the petitioner Union are aggrieved by the failure of the State authorities to provide them work, unemployment allowance, food, drinking water, healthcare and other relief after drought was declared in 305 of the 358 Talukas. The relief announced so far is farmer-centric, tied to land records and to banks or co-operative credit and excludes landless labourers, marginal farmers and agricultural workers," the plea reads.

The petitioner therefore, seeks proper implementation of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025 along with the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, 1977. The plea further seeks full implementation of the Manual for Drought Management, 2016 and the State Disaster Management Plan, 2023 as three-year drought resilience plan and call for monthly compliance reports.

The plea also seeks payment of unemployment allowance, free woodgrains and food security allowance, drinking water and fodder. It also seeks debt relief extending to micro-finance and informal loans etc. The plea further seeks Rs 5,000 financial assistance by the State to the farmers as an advance relief of bonus for drought-hit farmers ahead of Diwali.

The matter would be next heard on November 18.