50 districts drought-hit, UP seeks Rs 2,058 crore relief

NEW DELHI: With 18 of 29 states in the country in the grip of drought due to deficit monsoon this year, the Centre is in the midst of the mammoth task of assessing the loss before extending financial assistance--an issue which in the past has always been a bone of contention between Centre and state.
By Tuesday , the agriculture ministry had received details of as many as 191 out of 302 drought affected districts in the country , with Uttar Pradesh declaring 50 of its 75 districts drought hit. The state has submitted its memorandumseeking financial assistance of around Rs 2,058 crore.

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said, “Presently, central teams are visiting Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Memorandum has been received from UP and Odisha. Central teams are being dispatched there immediately (for first-hand ground assessment)“.

Relief funds are sanctioned to states only after an assessment of the damage by central teams. Since states' demands are invariably quite high, the Centre goes by the report of the team.

“It is the third crop loss in succession due to natural calamity (two back-to-back drought and an intervening unseasonal rains during Rabi season early this year). So, farmers need more help and some innovative solutions,“ said Sudhir Panwar, member of the UP planning commission. He said restructuring crop and other loans taken by farmers and interest waiver must be the priority as farmers hardly realise input prices incurred on crops.

Karnataka, which was the first one to declare drought and submitted a memorandum to the central government, will get financial assistance of Rs 1,540 crore. The state had, however, sought Rs 3,050 crore after declaring 27 of 30 districts as drought hit.Chhattisgarh will get Rs 1,387 crore to handle the drought situation. A final decision on this will be taken by the home ministry in consultation with the finance ministry .