158 blocks of Jharkhand drought affected, farmers to get Rs 3,500 grace
The Jharkhand government has decided to declare 158 blocks spread over 17 districts as drought-affected. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed the Disaster Management Department to prepare a proposal to declare these blocks as drought-prone at the earliest so that it could be placed before the Cabinet for approval.
The Jharkhand government has decided to declare 158 blocks spread over 17 districts as drought-affected. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed the Disaster Management Department to prepare a proposal to declare these blocks as drought-prone at the earliest so that it could be placed before the Cabinet for approval.
The Chief Minister has directed that Rs 3,500 be provided as immediate relief to the drought-hit farmers this year just like in the previous year. Farmers whose crops have been damaged up to 33 per cent due to low rainfall will be paid input subsidy amount.
Jharkhand CMO posted, "Recommendation to declare 158 blocks of 17 districts as drought zones. The Chief Minister directs the Disaster Management Department to prepare a proposal and send it to Cabinet meeting. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed that Rs 3,500 be given as grace amount to drought-affected farmers."
The state government decided to declare 158 blocks as drought-prone after the agriculture department assessed the ground conditions after low rainfall this monsoon.
The Chief Minister also asked the officials concerned to send a proposal to the Centre for financial assistance.
During the monsoon season, Jharkhand received 26 per cent less rainfall than normal. A deviation of over 19 per cent is considered as deficient rainfall, an official said.
Jharkhand is suffering from drought for the second consecutive year. This has affected paddy production in the state and farmers have suffered.
The JMM-led government had also declared 226 out of 260 blocks of the state as drought-hit in 2022 and decided to provide cash relief of Rs 3,500 to each affected farmer family.
In Jharkhand, about 3.3 million farmers have suffered crop losses due to drought.
The drought-affected districts are Chatra, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Jamtara, Khunti, Koderma, Latehar, Lohardaga, Pakur, Palamu and Ranchi.
