Drought relief norms relaxed

BHUBANESWAR: In a major relief to the farmers, the State Government on Saturday decided to declare panchayats which have received 50 per cent deficient rainfall for three consecutive weeks as dry spell affected instead of waiting for the crop cutting report to declare drought.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting presided by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty. Such an exercise will help the Government identify areas where there has been crop loss because of deficient rainfall and take appropriate measures. This will be a major shift from earlier practice of waiting for the crop cutting report to declare and announce relief measures.
“The earlier practice was to assess crop loss after cutting/harvesting. The panchayats receiving less than 50 per cent normal rainfall for three consecutive weeks will be considered dry spell affected,” the Minister told mediapersons after the meeting.

The Minister said the Government is yet to receive reports from the Collectors about the crop situation. The Statewide situation will be discussed on October 10 after receiving reports from the Collectors. Mohanty, however, said there has been improvement in the situation in some areas after the recent rainfall. The number of blocks which received deficient rainfall decreased from 103 to 96.

Meanwhile, the farmers’ cell of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has announced a Statewide agitation from October 4 against the anti-farmer policies of the Centre and the State Government. A 10-member delegation led by chairman of the cell Amiya Kumar Patnaik on Saturday submitted a memorandum to Governor SC Jamir containing four-point charter of demands including declaration of drought and farm loan waiver.The other demands include payment of bonus of `500 per quintal of paddy besides enhancement of the minimum support price (MSP).