About 85 per cent of the India has experienced “deficiency” or “large deficiency” in rainfall this monsoon season
An umbrella body of farmer groups on Saturday urged the government to declare districts which are under severe water stress as ‘drought-hit’ immediately and not wait till the end of the monsoon season as is the usual practice.
“There must not be any delay in the declaration of drought. Instead of waiting for the end of the monsoon, drought must be declared in all those districts where sowing has been severely affected due to 50 per cent or greater deficit in the month of June,” said All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a consortium of over 210 farmer associations in the country.
The working committee of AIKSCC met here on Thursday also asked the government to take a series of proactive steps as farmers face the prospects of a serious nation-wide drought this year, which could be a second consecutive drought in large parts of the country.
Briefing the media on Saturday, the AIKSCC leaders said a special national package should be announced for those districts that experienced drought last year and experienced delayed monsoon so far this year without any delay.
They said Maharashtra has the largest region that faced this double whammy. They urged the government to compensate drought-affected farmers of orange and other horticultural crops in the state at a rate of Rs.1 lakh per acre and at a rate of Rs.50,000 per acre where crops are on the verge of wilting.
Please click here to read more.