New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel on Friday to Vidarbha, the region that has seen eight suicides in the last 48 hours.
Before his visit, the Government is giving shape to a relief package for the farmers. The package has two broad thrust areas - infrastructure and long-term issues like credit.
The Prime Minister held a meeting at his residence with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia to discuss the package, official sources said.
Prime Minister will announce the package during his visit to the region.
On Tuesday, Chidambaram had held a meeting with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the package.
The economic policy direction for the next generation reforms also came up for discussion during Wednesday's meeting.
Agriculture Ministry sources say the package will look at infusing funds in the credit system of the 31 drought-affected districts in the four states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The amount of money is still to be finalised, but it could be anything between Rs 13,000 crore to Rs 21,000 crore.
There is also a proposal for a one-time loan waiver for the families of farmers, who have committed suicide.
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