State gets Rs 800 cr for not declaring drought last season

A high-level committee headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has appraised Punjab for the release of the funds which will help the state cover some part of the finances it had to incur to save the paddy crop. Even states like Bihar had failed to save its paddy and instead had declared drought,but ‘Punjab stood as an exception’.

The funds will be cleared under the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) for 15 states hit by drought last year.

Sources in the Punjab government confirmed that the committee has announced and informed the state about the release of funds. “We did not expect anything of that sort coming from the Central government,” said state government officials.

“At the meeting,the Finance ministry approved Rs 1,200 crore for Punjab and Haryana for not declaring drought in 2009 and providing additional power to farmers in the absence of monsoon to save their standing paddy crop,” said a senior state official.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah confirmed that the funds have been announced,and once the state government gets it,they will be used in the upcoming paddy season.

“We will use the funds in Punjab for our agriculture and though the farmers are losing in the wheat season due to the heat wave,we will try for a better paddy season ahead to cover their losses if any,” he told The Indian Express.

The money will cover the cost incurred by the two states in providing power to farmers to save the paddy crop and later to sow the wheat crop. “We will get Rs 800 crore. Though it will help us cover some of the losses,details of how to use this fund will be used is still to be decided,” said Punjab chief secretary S C Aggarwal.

The Punjab government,till last year,provided free power for the farm sector and the farmers were not charged anything and in the absence of the rainfall in 2009 the debt of the state government towards Punjab State Electricity Board had increased. However this year,the state has decided that farmers will pay for power and the same will be reimbursed twice a year.

“We made extra efforts last year to save our crops and supplied additional power in August and September. The state government did not press for drought relief,” Aggarwal said.

Punjab’s efforts to save its paddy crop were appreciated by all,including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. In the current wheat season,Punjab is likely to contribute about 105 lakh MTs against an expected market surplus of 115 lakh MTs to the national pool.