Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the Food Corporation Of India to quickly assess the damage caused to paddy due to the current rains, and also sought relaxations in the specifications for procurement of paddy by government agencies.
In a letter, the Chief Minister reminded Manmohan Singh that there was an immediate need to review and enhance the scale of relief provided to farmers affectd by natural calamities, and said that the scale of relief provided by the government of India for various crops was quite low compared to the losses incurred by the farmers.
Kiran Reddy also pointed out that the relief provided by the state government to the rain-hit farmers was much higher than that of the centre.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that about 7.22 lakh hectares of paddy sheaves in the state got damaged, of which about 20% was fully damaged, and the rest partial.
He also said that cotton crop in 2.36 lakh hectares was partially damaged, landing a further blow to farmers who were already in distress due to their crop being damaged by earlier rains.
Kiran Reddy wrote that the need of the hour was to enable the hapless farmers dispose off their paddy and cotton crops by relaxing the specifications set by the Food Corporation Of India.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that the centre had sanctioned Rs. 1,260.84 crore for the first 3 of the 5 natural disasters which had wreaked havoc in the state, while the state government had sanctioned Rs. 1,400 crore.