Begusarai should be declared 'drought-affected', demands Giriraj Singh

Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday took a jibe at Bihar government by stating that his constituency Begusarai was not declared as 'drought-affected' despite receiving lesser rainfall than other districts declared as drought-affected.

Singh was on a visit to his constituency to survey the flood-affected areas in the constituency following the rise in water levels of Ganga river.

"I was going over the rain records and found that the Bihar government has declared 15 districts including Nalanda district having less rainfall than Begusarai as 'drought-affected'," Singh said.

"The government should similarly declare drought in this district based on their earlier calculations or else it will be cheating," Singh added.

Singh further stated that one side of the district was affected with drought while on the other hand, another was affected by floods.

"This district is caught in two problems, on one side, it is affected with flood from the Ganga river and on the other hand, there is a drought due to less rain in another part. People affected in both the situations should be compensated for their loss," Singh said.

Later in the day, Singh was also asked about his reaction to the statement of JD(U) leader Bashistha Narain Singh who said that his party does not take the BJP leader's remarks seriously.

"As Begusarai's representative, I demanded that the government should declare the place as drought-affected. The state government should take it seriously as I have not asked Bashistha Narain Singh or JD (U). The farmers should be given the same compensation as offered in other drought-affected districts," Singh stated.