MP demands Rs 500 cr package for calamity-hit farmers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has demanded a Rs 500 crore special package from the Union government for providing relief to calamity affected farmers in the state.
Chouhan has written letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in this regard, an official release said here today.
Madhya Pradesh has witnessed frost, excessive rains and hailstorm from January 4 to March 17 this year. This has caused loss to crops on 7,74,000 hectares of land in 13,445 villages of 40 districts, he said.
Besides, 32 people lost their lives and 200 cattle heads perished. These spells of natural calamities have caused loss to the tune of about Rs 2,000 crore. Assessment is still underway and figures of estimates of loss may rise further, he mentioned in the letter.

Relief is provided to affected farmers under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), but it will fall short in view of the quantum of loss. Therefore, a Rs 500 crore special package should also be given in addition to relief given under the SDRF, Chouhan said.