Central team visits Jharkhand to assess drought situation

A Central team today visited Jharkhand to assess the drought situation, nearly three weeks after the state government recommended the Centre to declare the entire state as drought-hit.
Headed by Additional Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, Jalaj Srivastava, the central team met Chief Minister Raghubar Das who asked them to make field visits to assess the drought situation, an official release said.
Das also informed the team that the government has sent a Rs 1140.77 crore proposal to the Centre, covering agriculture (Rs 216.39 crore), urban areas (Rs 30.77 crore), drinking water/sanitation (Rs 170.39 crore) and water resources (Rs 723.21 crore).

The government has also sent a communique to the Centre urging it to increase the number of days from 100 to between 150 and 200 days under MGNRGA in view of the drought.
The chief minister said that ten quintal grains were being stocked in every panchayat as drought relief measures.
Additional Chief Secretary and in-charge of the Cabinet department N N Pandey had on December 1 said the state cabinet decided to recommend the Centre to declare the entire state as drought-hit following scanty rainfall this season.
The team during the day made field visits to assess the drought situation.