The Rajasthan Government has announced a Rs. 126-crore relief package for the State's farmers who have suffered damage to their crops recently due to frost, hailstorm and cold wave conditions. The package, coming after an acrimonious political exchange between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress over who should compensate the farmer, earmarks Rs. 101 crore for farm subsidies, Rs. 15 crore for waiving four months electricity bill to small and marginal farmers and Rs. 10 crore for waiving the water cess. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore and Relief Minister Laxminrain Dave, who announced the package here, said over 1.37 lakh farmers and an area of 8.96 lakh hectares in 22 districts of the State had been affected by the extreme weather conditions. An estimated 3.39-lakh hectares of standing mustard crops, 700 hectares of spices and 5,300 hectares of vegetables have been found affected. In 3.45 lakh hectares the damage was estimated to be more than 50 per cent, they added. "The crop damages from frost, hail storm or cold wave are not covered under the Calamity Relief Fund. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has written to the Union Home Minister to include such eventualities too in the categories eligible for relief under CRF,' the Ministers pointed out. As per the package, each farmer would get a maximum compensation of Rs. 3,000 per hectare (with a ceiling of up to two hectares) in the case of un-irrigated land and Rs.6,000 per hectare in land irrigated with diesel pump sets. In the case of land irrigated from energized wells or canals the compensation would be Rs. 4,000 per hectare. The relief measures include conversion of short-term cooperative loans to long-term loans and declaration of villages, which have suffered more than 50 per cent crop loss, as "scarcity-hit'. Mr. Rathore said the Collectors and the officials of the Agriculture Department in the affected districts have been asked to provide the estimates of damages. According to available information, 90,013 big farmers, 19,836 marginal farmers and 24,109 small farmers in the districts of Chittorgarh, Bikaner, Churu, Sriganganagar and Ajmer have lost more than 50 per cent of their crop. In Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar the maximum damage was to the standing crops of mustard, cereals and vegetables while in Bikaner it was Isabgol, coriander, cummin and vegetables. In Jhunjhunu, Churu and Sawai Madhopur the damages were mostly to vegetable crops.