Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N
Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday sought liberal assistance from the
Centre for drought relief in the state.
Interacting with an inter-ministerial central team
that called on him after touring the drought-hit districts, he
said the state would send a fresh request for assistance to
the tune of Rs 3,006 crore.
A release from the Chief Minister`s Office quoted him
as saying that a few districts in the state are suffering from
cyclone and floods on one hand and drought on the other.
He sought long-term assistance from the Centre to meet
the situation arising out of natural calamities.
Seeking release of drought relief assistance at the
earliest, the Chief Minister said the state government would
add its share and distribute the fund to the farmers.
The Chief Minister also sought a bonus of Rs 120 towards
the Minimum Support Price for foodgrains.
The central team lauded the well-coordinated approach
of the state government in conducting drought relief
operations, the release said.
The team appreciated that a comprehensive assessment
of the crop damage has been done and that there are no
complaints from any farmer that he is left out, it said.
A detailed drought memorandum was submitted to the
Centre last month requesting assistance from National Disaster
Response Fund (NDRF) amounting to Rs 2584.42 crore.
Agriculture operations were badly hit due to erratic,
uneven and non-receipt of adequate rainfall in kharif season
2011. Due to deficiency of rainfall in June, sowing of rainfed
crops was delayed by nearly 15 to 30 days. Crop growth was
further affected due to inadequate rainfall in September,
the release added.
PTI
