| We will offer all help and cooperation to the States in meeting the situation |
“August could see rains in central, northeast, northern parts of India”
Criteria used by U.P. to declare districts drought-hit questioned
NEW DELHI: Though deficiency in rainfall in the country was down to -19 per cent on July 22 from -54 per cent on June 24, Minster of Agriculture Sharad Pawar on Tuesday admitted that sowing of paddy had been adversely affected in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Mr. Pawar assured the States of the Centre’s full cooperation in tackling the drought situation arising out of delayed monsoon. The forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department indicates that August could see widespread rains in central, northeast and northern parts of the country.
In a nearly five-hour discussion in the Lok Sabha on the situation arising out of drought and floods in various parts of the country, Mr. Pawar assured the House that record procurement this year resulted in well-stocked granaries with substantial quantities of wheat and rice that would suffice for the next 13 months.
“But we are not complacent. The drought situation has shown improvement and some States have declared their districts drought-hit. We will not like to act in haste, but offer all help and cooperation to the States in meeting the situation,” he said.
Appealing to MPs to forget their political differences while dealing with a vital sector like agriculture, Mr. Pawar said that he would request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers and State Agriculture Ministers next month to discuss measures to tide over the situation.
Mr. Pawar said the first instalment of Rs. 271 crore from the Calamity Relief Fund was released to four States on Tuesday. The Finance Ministry had released Rs. 81 crore to Assam, Rs. 62 crore to Bihar, Rs. 2.34 crore to Manipur and Rs. 124.77 crore to Uttar Pradesh.
Under the National Calamity and Contingency Fund, four to five States would be given funds to the tune of Rs. 1,000 crore.
Reeling off data collected from State Agriculture Commissioners on the sowing status of paddy, the main kharif crop, Mr. Pawar said there was a shortfall of about 60 lakh hectare, adding that it was “badly affected.”
Seeking to counter allegations of the U.P. government, he said it had sought permission to import “truthful” seeds instead of “certified” seeds available in the country. “Though we do not encourage procurement of ‘truthful’ seeds, we gave permission to the U.P. government to go ahead with it,” he said.
Mr. Pawar said it was the responsibility of the State government to assess the ground in every block and then take a decision if it needed to be declared drought-hit. So far, Manipur and Assam had declared all their districts drought-hit, U.P. had declared 47 districts as being drought-hit and Jharkhand had declared four of its districts as having been affected by the drought.
Water conservation Stressing on efficient water management techniques and the need for water conservation, Mr. Pawar said global warming could affect some northern and Himalayan regions. With 4.2 per cent of the world’s water resources and 2.3 per cent of the world’s land, India was supporting 17 per cent of the world’s population. “It is not simple. There is not enough water and other resources,” he added.
Earlier, initiating the discussion, Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ of the Janata Dal (United) said India would not be able to escape drought and flood without water management. He said irrigation should be declared an infrastructure activity so that it got top priority.
Referring to the proposal mooted by the National Democratic Alliance government for inter-linking of rivers, Mr. Singh said that even if the Centre did not want to go ahead with the project, it should allow the States to implement it in the case of rivers within their jurisdiction.
Vinay Kumar Pandey of the Congress questioned the criteria used by the Mayawati government in U.P. to declare certain districts drought-hit.