Government has said that Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have sought a total of over Rs 10,000 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to provide urgent relief to farmers for damaged crops due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh informed the Lok Sabha that in the last three months, many states were hit by untimely rain and hailstorm and the Centre has taken various measures to help distressed farmers.
He said, as per inputs received from States and based on preliminary assessment, 93.81 lakh hectare area under crops was affected due to hailstorm, unseasonal rains as on 16 th of this month. Mr Singh said several state governments have been asked to take relief measures and utilise the money available under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Mr Singh informed, the states can seek money from the NDRF for additional financial assistance.
The Minister informed that Uttar Pradesh government has demanded Rs 744 crore, Rajasthan has asked for Rs 8,252 crore and Haryana has sought Rs 1,135 crore from NDRF.
To a question on whether farmers have committed suicide due to distress caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorms, the Minister said Maharashtra government reported three such cases during January to March period. Agriculture Minister said, as per reports received from some state governments namely Punjab, Karnataka, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, there have been no incidents of farmer suicide.