THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, January 10: Chief Minister Hemant Soren today directed the officials to take appropriate steps to give relief to the farmers affected by drought.
He asked them to give an ex-gratia amount of Rs 3500 per farmer as immediate relief to the farmers affected by drought.
“Apart from this, the input grant amount will be paid to those farmers whose crops have been damaged up to 33 per cent due to less rainfall,” he added.
At a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority chaired by the chief minister, it was decided to declare 156 blocks under 17 districts as drought-hit areas.
Notably, the Agriculture Department recommended these blocks be declared drought-hit as there was less rainfall in the State this year.
Soren directed the Disaster Management Department to prepare a proposal to declare all these 158 blocks as drought areas so that they can be approved in the Council of Ministers meeting.
Proposal for central assistance
The chief minister directed the officials of the Disaster Management Department to send a proposal to the Central Government to provide financial assistance to the drought-affected farmers.
Who were present?
In this meeting, Health Minister Banna Gupta, Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh, Chief Secretary L. Khiangate, Principal Secretary (Finance) Ajay Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Vinay Kumar Choubey, Secretary Amitabh Kaushal, Agriculture Secretary Abu Bakr Siddique and Special Secretary of Agriculture Department Pradeep Hazari were present.