Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday urged a 10-member central team, which had come to assess the drought situation in the state, to make available assistance under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) soon.
He also said the Centre's rule of not accepting the assessment made through a 'Girdawari' (harvest inspector) to know the drought situation was not appropriate.
Similarly, giving agricultural input grant to farmers on land up to two hectares in the drought management guidelines is not compatible with the geographical condition of the state as the average agricultural sowing in the state is higher, Gehlot said in a statement.
In addition to Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Hanumangarh districts, Bikaner, Churu and Nagaur are also drought-hit as per the Girdawari report, which requires to be assessed for relief, the chief minister said.
Gehlot urged the Centre's team to amend such impractical rules of the NDRF.
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He also suggested amendments in the rules to increase the grant of relief amount for livestock considering the special circumstances of Rajasthan.
Gehlot asked the team members to release the relief amount at the earliest after assessing the situation of the districts so that the affected people can get appropriate benefits.
Union Agriculture Ministry's Joint Secretary Shomita Biswas said there is a drought situation in the four affected districts.
Members of the team and Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, B K Shrivastava said in many places the level of moisture in the land is low and the possibility of crop is created only when there is rain at regular intervals.
He admitted that locust attack has also caused major damage to crops besides problem of fodder crisis and drinking water.
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