Front Page   

Centre announces second instalment of drought relief

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI AUG. 4. The Government today announced a second instalment of Rs. 714.20 crores to the 12 drought-affected States under the Calamity Relief Fund, even as the Chief Ministers of six of them, ruled by the Congress, demanded more Central assistance. ``A further amount of Rs. 714.20 crores towards the second instalment will be released now to the 12 States,'' the Prime Minister's Office said in a press release. This would be in addition to Rs. 483.56 crores already released.

The recently-constituted task force, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, to tackle the problems arising out of the monsoon failure also released Rs. 538 crores to cope with the drinking water scarcity in the 12 States, which are required to allot a matching share. The statement said Rs. 111.75 crores had been released for meeting natural calamities and emergent situations. For dealing with fodder scarcity, the cost of transporting fodder would be met from the CRF. On debt relief for farmers, the RBI would ask the banks to follow instructions regarding rescheduling of crop loans. Similarly, instructions would also be issued by NABARD to cooperative banks and rural banks. Subsidy for agricultural inputs would be provided for small and marginal farmers under the CRF.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, urged the Centre to provide liberal assistance to the State reeling under a severe drought. In a memorandum to Mr. Advani, they said that only 31 per cent of the cropped area had been covered in the State, rendering 60 lakh farm labourers jobless. The immediate need was drinking water for the villages and towns, and fodder for cattle, they said.

PTI reports:

The PMO press release said the Government would take all necessary steps to provide quick relief for the initial two-month period of August-September this year, since the full impact of the monsoon deficiency would be known by August 15.

To tackle the problem of employment loss in rural areas, the Ministry of Rural Development had already released the first instalment of Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) to the States.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Centre announces second instalment of drought relief
• Cong. alleges `step-motherly' treatment
• Translate rhetoric into action, NHRC chief tells PM
• Uma Bharti, Vasundhara to quit Govt. for party work
• Shivani case: IG contacts lawyer
• Tragedy averted
• Ban on tobacco, gutka ?
• Bengal bandh today
• Actress to `expose' Sanjay

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu