New Delhi, August 22: As half of India reels under severe drought, the Centre has embarked on a slew of measures that include the decision to import food items and seeds for fodder, formulation of a scheme for loans to farmers for the shallow tube wells programme and rescheduling of the farm loan. These were the decisions that emerged from the meeting of State Agriculture Ministers held here on Friday to discuss the drought in about 246 out of the 626 districts in the country.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the Empowered Group of Ministers on drought, asserted at the conference that the Centre would import those items that were in short supply. “The decision is already made that whichever commodity is in short supply, we shall go for imports,” Mukherjee said, pointing to the shortage of pulses and edible oil. However, he refused to announce the timing of the import to ensure that prices were not jacked up by global players. “We do not make announcements of the import in a very big way because that has a cascading effect. The moment news is spread that India is going for a big import, the market prices are jacked up,” he said.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar who chaired a day-long meeting told reporters here that several decisions had been taken to mitigate the farm crisis on account of drought. As on August 18 the rainfall was deficient by 26 percent, resulting in substantial loss of sown areas and 246 districts in the country being droughtaffected, Pawar observed. Pawar announced that the Centre would formulate a scheme for large-scale sinking of shallow tubewells, providing additional power to states for irrigation and ensuring availability of fertilisers. To further mitigate the suffering of farmers, Pawar said farm loans would be rescheduled.
—Agencies