Cabinet to discuss drought situation, crop loss on August 13: Priyank Kharge
As crops wither across rain-deficient parts of the State, the drought-like situation and mounting crop losses will come up for discussion at the State Cabinet
As crops wither across rain-deficient parts of the State, the drought-like situation and mounting crop losses will come up for discussion at the State Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Minister for Home, IT-BT and e-Governance and Kalaburagi district in-charge Minister Priyank Kharge said here on Monday. Kharge stated that the State had recorded a rainfall deficit of approximately 75%, with the situation attributed to the impact of the “Super El Niño” phenomenon. He was speaking after inspecting rain-hit agricultural fields in the Aurad (B) village of Kalaburagi taluk. The Minister visited the fields of Vimalabai Ambaraya and Shakuntala Suryakant, where crops had withered. Vimalabai appealed to Mr. Kharge for compensation, saying she had spent about ₹50,000 on DAP fertiliser and seeds to sow black gram, only to lose the crop to the prolonged dry spell.
She had sown red gram on another four acres, but feared that the crop too would fail if the drought situation continued. Kharge said the Chief Minister had directed Ministers to visit drought-affected areas in their respective districts and submit reports. “Accordingly, I have come here for a field visit,” he added. He later visited Kere Bhosga village and inspected the field of Shabbir Ahmed, where red gram had been sown twice following the failure of the first crop. State seeks relaxation of NDRF norms Kharge said Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had already written to the Centre highlighting the drought situation in the State. The stringent provisions governing assistance under the Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) were making it difficult for the State to provide adequate compensation to farmers, he expressed.
“The State has been seeking a simplification of the NDRF norms to ensure that farmers receive fair compensation. The Centre should consider this demand,” Mr. Kharge reiterated. Kalaburagi district received a record ₹650 crore in compensation last year, making it the second-highest recipient in the country, Mr. Kharge said. This year, nearly 4.5 lakh farmers in the district have so far enrolled under the crop insurance scheme. Farmers had complained that adequate compensation did not reach nearly 20% of the gram panchayat areas last year, Mr. Kharge said. “I have issued strict instructions to the Revenue and Agriculture Department officials to ensure that this is not repeated this year,” he said. On drinking water, Mr. Kharge said ₹1 crore had been allocated to each Assembly constituency in the district.
The BriefWire