National

Immediate relief for cold-affected farmers sought

JAIPUR: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Ramniwas Mirdha has asked the Rajasthan Government to provide immediate relief to the farmers affected by frost and severe cold weather conditions in the State in the past one month. The standing crops of mustard, gram and others across an area of 9 lakh hectares in 22 districts of the State were affected by the calamity, he said.

In a statement here, Mr. Mirdha said that instead of initiating a long-winded correspondence with the Centre, the State Government should open up its Calamity Relief Fund to provide succour to the farmers. “This is not the time for making allegations against each other or playing political games,” he said. Mr. Mirdha said the State could start making use of the Rs.400-crore reserves with it in the Calamity Relief Fund, provided by the Centre. He also asked the State Government to start the process of “girdavari” (assessment of the crop losses by the revenue staff) so that the funds from the Centre could reach the affected farmers on time.

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