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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the country's preparedness in case the southwest monsoon proved to be deficient, besides discussing a contingency plan for India's 500-odd districts.
Modi was updated about the government's preparedness to minimise the impact of a poor monsoon and informed that it was mulling relief measures such as providing subsidy to buy seeds for re-sowing and to purchase diesel for irrigation to protect crops, sources added.
Early this week, the India Meteorological Department cut its June-September monsoon forecast to 93 per cent of the long-run average from an already below-normal 95 per cent projected earlier.
Modi also took stock of issues relating to agriculture, rural development, water resources, organic farming, fertilisers and chemicals, and animal husbandry.
The prime minister was briefed by secretaries of various departments on plans for these sectors. He stressed particularly on the need to reduce farmer distress and to boost the rural economy.
Officials in the know said of all the ministries listed for review, only two - the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation and the Department of Agriculture Research and Education - made their presentations.
"The presentations fundamentally listed the working of the ministries, their achievements in the last 10 years and also the challenges faced by them," said a senior official who participated in the meeting.
"We discussed how innovative ideas like 'lab to land' approach can strengthen agriculture and help our farmers," Prime Minister Modi tweeted later about the meeting, adding that it was a 'fruitful' interaction.
The meeting was part of the series of review of various ministries, as the prime minister had mentioned in his meeting with secretaries. It was attended by Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Uma Bharati, Ram Vilas Paswan and Radha Mohan Singh.
In his interaction with over 70 secretaries last week, the prime minister had indicated that he was going to do a review of ministries one by one.
