Government approves crop damage due to cold wave eligible for relief

NEW DELHI: Damage to crops due to cold wave and frost would now be eligible for central and state assistance following the government's decision to consider such weather condition as natural calamity.

At present, cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst and pest attack are treated as natural calamities and are eligible for relief under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

"The Cabinet decided to include cold wave/ frost as an eligible calamity for relief under the Funds (SDRF and NDRF)," an official release said today.

The decision of the Cabinet, which met last evening, comes following the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on inclusion of cold wave and frost into the list of calamities eligible for assistance.

The GoM, which was constituted in February 2011 to look into this issue, comprised former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The proposal was taken by the GoM upon requests from the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, which faced damage to rabi crops like wheat and pulses last year due to extreme cold weather.