NEW DELHI, Aug 27: Assistance for entire holding of small and marginal farmers who have suffered crop loss of 50 per cent or more due to natural calamities like drought and floods has been provided, Lok Sabha was informed today.
“Government of India has framed guidelines for providing relief from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in the event of natural calamities like cyclone, cloud burst, drought, floods, earthquakes, landslides, pest attack, Tsunami, cold wave,” Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said.
He said in reply to a question that assistance is provided for entire holding of small and marginal farmers who have suffered crop loss of 50 per cent or more whereas assistance to other farmers is capped at one hectare per farmer, irrespective of the size of holding.
“Whenever there is a calamity, Government of India provides relief. There is a difference between compensation and relief. We give relief in such cases. Finance Commission makes recommendations and generally these are accepted by the government,” Pawar said in reply to a query.
Only Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have written to the Centre stating that they are facing drought and sought relief, he said.
He maintained that whenever a request is made by a state for relief for crop loss caused by natural calamities, his ministry forms a team which visits the affected area and submits a report. An inter-ministerial committee studies the report and decides the course of action.
Ravindra Pandey (BJP) said Jharkhand has suffered from drought for the last three years but no action has been taken by the Centre, to which Pawar replied that no request for help has come from the state and if a memo is sent steps will be taken.
When Gorakhnath Pandey (BSP) drew attention to the floods in Uttar Pradesh, Pawar said providing immediate relief is the responsibility of the state.
“Whenever the loss is substantial, the Government of India has to come forward. We are fully prepared to help farmers but details have to be given,” he said.
“If a written memo is sent for flood affected areas of UP, I will form a team within 48 hours,” he said.
Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) sought to know what steps have been taken by the Centre to give relief to paddy growers, cotton producers and other farmers of Maharashtra whose crops have been destroyed due to floods.
“I got a memorandum from the Maharashtra government asking for Rs 1,183 crore for dealing with destruction caused by floods…We are sending a team,” Pawar said.
T R Baalu (DMK) raised the issue of coconut farmers of Tamil Nadu facing problems due to diseases caused to coconut trees. He said agriculture scientists are not able to deal with them.
“We were getting a lot of reports about this from Tamil Nadu and had sent a team. I held a detailed meeting earlier with the farmers and others and discussed the measures that should be taken,” Pawar said.
Earlier, when the House met for the day, Samajwadi Party members were on their feet expressing concern over the devastation caused by floods in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaker Meira Kumar asked them not to disrupt the House. “The Question Hour has not functioned in this session. Let the Question Hour take place. I will give you time in Zero Hour,” she said. (PTI)
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