Will assess damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm: Jaitley

Three Union ministers, including Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, started visiting the rain affected areas from Thursday

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that the government would constitute special teams of officials to be sent to all the hailstorm and rain affected states to assess damage.

Three Union ministers, including Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, started visiting the rain-and hailstorm-affected areas from Thursday, Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

Jaitley added the government would “act with compassion and without going into technicalities” of the matter.

An official statement released late in the evening said the Centre had empowered the state governments to undertake necessary relief measures from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), readily available with them and, in case the SDRF funds fell short of requirement, a special memorandum could be submitted to the Centre for assistance from National Disaster Response Fund.  

According to officials, the government will soon announce a relief package for hailstorm and unseasonal rain-hit areas after getting inputs from the state governments.

Standing crops in five million hectares of land across the north, west and central parts of the country have got damaged during the untimely rains and hailstorm which hit thrice in March, according to data placed before Parliament.

25-30% of the mustard seed crop in Rajasthan has been damaged, while 10-15% of the wheat in western Uttar Pradesh has been damaged.

An estimate by the Punjab government said 15-20% of the standing wheat crop worth Rs 3,000 crore was damaged in the unseasonal rains.

The hailstorm that hit Nashik and other parts of Maharashtra has affected onion, pomegranate and grape crop.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a compensation package for the farmers and decided to procure wheat from them from their doorsteps.

Other state governments, too, have started conducting surveys to assess the loss.