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Punjab, Haryana farmers battling dry spell to get direct Central aid Chandigarh, August 10 Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday met Punjab and Haryana government officials to take feedback on the drought relief packages sought by them. While Punjab submitted a demand for an Rs 5,112 crore package, Haryana claimed Rs 4,051 crore. Pawar said direct relief would be given to farmers through Kisan Credit Cards. Both governments have been asked to provide the list of beneficiaries. Pawar said he had made it clear to both states that the mandate of the committee under him was to tackle immediate problems being faced by the states and not the long-term issues. He said efforts were on to help both states but there were some relief measures which could be made available to them only if they announced they had been struck by drought. Stating that there was a limited drought level in the two states, Pawar said no impact on crops has been witnessed in both states. “The decision on relief to be provided to both states would come soon,” said the Agriculture Minister. The committee agreed that the monsoon was deficit by 68 per cent in Punjab and 71 per cent in Haryana till August 7. Pawar termed the demand of both states for compensation due to deficient rains as “genuine” and said there was a precedent for this demand with Rs 800 and Rs 400 crore, respectively, being given to Punjab and Haryana in 2009 in a similar situation.The committee has agreed to give seed subsidy. It has also agreed to a proposal to reschedule loans taken by farmers from cooperative banks. Pawar said he had already talked to NABARD. Both Punjab and Haryana will be given additional money for provision of drinking water. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said Punjab had asked for Rs 26 crore for drinking water schemes. “We have assured them we will release Rs 40 crore for this purpose by next week”. He said the state had not asked for additional funds for labour charges under MREGA which had been calculated at Rs 211 crore. He said 30 new works had been added in the MREGA list as per the requirement of the state and that in case additional funds were required they would be released. Ramesh said his ministry was ready to allocate Rs 92 crore for this task.
‘Limited’ drought
Rs 230-cr interim
relief for Haryana Chandigarh, August 10 “Of the Rs 230 crore, Rs 160 crore will be released for drinking water purposes. We will be releasing Rs 115 crore immediately. A sum of Rs 70 crore would be released for the watershed management under the Desert Development Programme,” said Hooda. He said with rainfall deficiency reported to be over 70% this time, the state government and the farmers have to spend extra to take care of their standing crops. During the current kharif season (May to October), the state government would provide 17,000 lakh power units to the agriculture sector at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore. Claiming that the Central Government has waived off the import duty on oil cakes, Hooda said a fodder management system was being put in place under which green fodder from the “fodder surplus” areas would be diverted to the “fodder deficient” areas. He said the state government has demanded a compensation for the enhanced cost of cultivation, unsown area and other support measures for the agriculture sector to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore. The farmers also needed to be given relief in interest on crop loans from the cooperative department to the tune of Rs 700 crore as the state government has converted short-term loans into long-term loans.
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