Union Rural Development Minister Birendra Singh said today that both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were yet to submit their drought reports to the Centre.
While visiting the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRFC) at Annaram in the Shadnagar mandal, the Union Minister said that the Centre was ready to offer financial assistance to the two States to tackle drought upon receipt of the reports.
He said that the Centre was also planning to pump in huge amounts of money for rural development in a phased manner. As part of that, the Centre would be sanctioning Rs 2 lakh crores for the development of 2.46 lakh Village Panchayats countrywide in 4 years.
The Centre was keen on giving funds directly to the Village Panchayats, he said.
Owing to persistent drought, Singh said that the Centre would supply water to scarcity-hit areas through the railways.
He also said that the "Food for Work" program would provide more employment. "For this, we will increase the number of working days to 150 from 100 per year now," he said.