Modi discusses monsoon contingency plan for 500 districts

The meeting which lasted around three hours, was attended by agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, food and civil supplies minister Ram Vilas Paswan, chemicals and fertilizers minister Ananth Kumar, water resources minister Uma Bharti besides minister of sate Santosh Gangwar.

The ministers briefed. Modi about the prevailing food price and monsoon situation besides reforms in Public Distribution System (PDS) to effectively combat any adverse effect on food availability in the scenario of poor monsoon. Sources in the government said that Agriculture Ministry has already started preparing a contingency plan to deal with the adverse impact of a weak monsoon. The country is expected to receive below normal rainfall this year.

During the briefing agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh is reported to have said that a contingency plan has been prepared for 500 districts all over the country, which includes move to help farmers with compensations such as subsidised diesel and cheaper loans. The Minister also informed that there was sufficient buffer stock available and it would help to control prices.

An advisory has been sent to state governments on the need for drought preparedness. The states expected to be most affected are Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Agriculture Ministry has has also called a two-day meeting of state officials next week to discuss the fallout of weak monsoon. 

India is expected to receive below-average rainfall this year, potentially damaging crops in about half of the country’s farmland that depends on monsoon rains.