Centre plans relief packages for drought-hit Bihar and flood-hit Vidarbha

Team to reach Bihar in October to assess extent of damage in 33 of 38 districts, govt working on Rs 1,500 cr for Vidarbha

The Centre will send a team of seniors to drought-hit Bihar in the first week of October to assess the extent of damage to crop and livestock in 33 of the 38 districts in the state.

For Vidharbha in Maharashtra, affected by excess rains, the government is working on a relief package of Rs 1,500 crore. The two decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called on him in the capital on Thursday.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Pawar said, Bihar has asked for a relief package of over Rs 11,000 crore and also wants the Centre to share the burden of a diesel subsisdy which it gives to farmers. He said both for Bihar and Vidharbha, the central government will work out a compensation package.

“Overall, I feel that there might not be any significant fall in overall production of rice, oilseeds or pulses, but some impact could be there in coarse cereals like jowar and ragi,” Pawar said.