The Chief Minister declares all the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu drought affected and announces a relief package. Opposition parties welcome the announcement but want transparency in spending the funds.
The highlight of the Chief Minister’s package of concessions are: all districts will be declared drought-hit because the rainfall from the north-east monsoon was extremely deficient in all parts of the State, land tax to be paid by farmers will be waived, and crop loans obtained by farmers from cooperative banks and commercial banks will be converted into medium-term loans. An important concession relates to compensation to be paid to farmers who lost 33 per cent of their yield. The Chief Minister said a compensation of Rs.5,465 an acre (0.4 hectare) would be given to farmers who cultivated paddy or other irrigated crops, Rs.7,287 will be given for long term crops, and Rs.3,000 for rain-fed crops. A memorandum would be prepared and submitted to the Centre for financial assistance since a huge outlay is required to combat the fallout of the drought. To provide employment to agricultural labourers, the number of working days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) would be increased from 100 to 150 days, the Chief Minister said.
This story is from the February 3, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the February 3, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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