M A I N   N E W S

Rains to improve after July 7, says Agri Minister

Showers continue in North, mercury dips Temperatures dipped marginally across North India today following light to moderate rains at several places of the region. Though the temperature hovered below 40 degrees Celsius in the national capital following early morning rain, high-level humidity caused discomfort to Delhiites. Delhi received 26.4-mm rainfall till 5.30 pm, according to the Metrological Department. The maximum temperature in the city settled at 38 degrees Celsius, one notch above normal.

New Delhi, Jun 26
The monsoon is expected to improve after July 7 but the government is fully prepared to tackle the situation in case of poor rainfall, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to review the monsoon situation and implementation of the Food Security Act.

The meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and the Agriculture Minister.

"Discussions were held on the Food Security Act and drought situation," Agriculture Minister told reporters after the meeting.

The Agriculture Ministry and the Meteorological Department briefed the Prime Minister on the progress of monsoon in the country and ongoing sowing operations of the Kharif crops, including paddy.

"Monsoon was delayed by a week. However, there will be a good rainfall after July 7 according to the Met Department forecast. Impact of El-nino is also expected to be subdued than what was expected earlier," Singh said.

Stating that the situation does not look as bad as it was expected, the minister said: "Even if the situation gets bad due to below normal monsoon, we are fully prepared to tackle it."

The country has received 45 per cent less rainfall in the first spell till June 17. The Met Department has forecasted monsoon to be below normal at 93 per cent of the long period average.

Singh said the contingency plans had been prepared and advisories had been issued to states. Asked about financial package to deal with the bad monsoon, Singh said: "We are consulting various ministries on the issue after which will move a proposal to the Cabinet.”

The minister said states had been asked to keep aside 10 per cent of funds available under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for undertaking appropriate interventions to mitigate drought-like situation, if any, arising out of deficient rainfall.

Till last week, rice had been sown/transplanted in 7.59 lakh hectare, pulses in 2.60 lakh hectare, oilseeds in 1.23 lakh hectare and coarse cereals in 12.29 lakh hectare. — PTI