Centre seeks memorandum from states for drought assistance

In view of a dry spell during the last Kharif season and early Rabi season in some parts of the country, the central government on Thursday asked the affected states to submit memorandum for drought assistance.

The union agriculture ministry has urged the state governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Telagana and Andhra Pradesh to immediately intimate the number of drought affected districts and whether drought has been declared in these areas or not, an official statement said.

States have also been asked to submit the financial memorandum for assistance from the National Drought Relief Fund.

On receipt of the information, a team from the central government would visit states to take stock of the situation and assess the assistance required, the statement added.

So far, memorandum for assistance for drought relief have been received from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and were being assessed by teams from the central government, it said.