State seeks Rs 630 crore from Centre
The State Agriculture Department has demanded an assistance of Rs. 630.61 crore from the Central Government to overcome the impact of the drought-like situation it has faced this monsoon. The demand of the State Government was placed before the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on 22nd August, 2009 by a high-level delegation of the State Agriculture Department led by Agriculture Minister of the State Pramila Rani Brahma, through a memorandum. The Union Agriculture Minister though did not make any commitment before the State delegation, however, suggested that the State could use the Central allocations made under different heads to overcome the situation. It needs mention here that the Union Agriculture Ministry had held a meeting of the State Agriculture Ministers at New Delhi on 21st August, 2009 on the impact of the drought and drought-like situation faced by the states.. In the meeting, a detailed discussion on the roles of the Central and state governments in this connection, was held. The State delegation said in the memorandum that the State was experiencing drought-like situation since March, 2009. The overall rainfall deficit in the State has been recorded as (-) 35% by 30th June, (-) 27% by 31st July and (-) 17% by 15th August. Even though the deficit was reduced to (-) 17% by the 15th of August, yet there was a wider variation in rainfall deficit in the various districts of the State ranging from (-) 20% to (-) 69%. The State Government had declared all the 27 districts affected by a drought-like situation on 22nd July, 2009.
This deficit rainfall caused widespread damage to Kharif crops in the State. Crop area of about 8.70 lakh hectares has been affected covering 15.95 lakh farm families in 15,362 villages. It has been expected that 15.90 lakh hectares out of targeted 18.00 lakh hectares would be covered by the end of the season and 2.10 lakh hectares (12% of targeted area) may remain uncovered during Kharif, 2009. Moreover, Winter Paddy seedlings of 60,000 hectares have been affected by this situation. In some cases, sali paddy seedlings had to be raised more than once.
Government of Assam has proposed certain measures to overcome the present crisis arising out of the drought-like situation so that the loss incurred by the farmers can be compensated. These include short term measures like — tractorization of Rabi crop fields , distribution of diesel to drought-affected farmers , distribution of seeds , distribution of fertilisers , subsidy for electrically-operated pump sets and deep-tube wells under RKVY , among others.
The long-term measures proposed by the State for the purpose of overcoming the situation include — additional subsidy to STW / LLP under existing AACP programme , installation of one lakh number of additional STWs (diesel / electrical) , flow and lift Irrigation , flow irrigation facility under National Food Security Mission (Rice) , among others. The State has sought an assistance of Rs. 230.68 crore for the short-term measures and Rs. 399.93 crore for the long-term measures, from the Central Government .
Other Contents by Author
Kristna Saikia, a well known actress has been honoured with 'Maharashtra Gaurav Samman'- (Pride of Maharashtra ) award on 1st May 2016 on Maharashtra Day by EIN news Channel 'Indian express News' as an Actress contributing to Art and Cinema. Kristina has acted in cross over films which were part of Cannes film festival since 2012 till 2015, American film market in Santa Monica and Oscar Contention with her films and more then 10 international film festivals worldwide. She will be very soon seen in a much awaited film Kamasutra3D, Directed by Rupesh Paul which is scheduled to release in more then 6000 theatres worldwide . Kristna originally was born in Margherita and studied in...
Women's Day was celebrated by Society and Heallth in collaboration with sSTEP at Guwahati on THursday. An octogenerian street dweller of Panbazar Sukleswar Mandir inaugurated the occasion. Around 70 women from street dwellers, slams, daily wage earner, domestic helper participated the programme. Prabhat Ch Sharma, founder member of Society and Heallth supported the program by giving mosquito nets to the needy people.
An evening of Classical Music, in fond memory of Hirendra Nath Sarma, one of the doyens of classical music in Assam was held at the premises of the Nayantara Club, Kumarpara, Guwahati on 28th December, 2015. The programme was organized by the Nayantara Club, under active initiative of Satyen Sarma. The Evening was inaugurated by Padmini Sarma, wife of Late Hirendra Nath Sarma. Noted Artists, namely, Dilip Hazarika, Namita bhattacharjya and Dr. Samujjal Kr. Bhattacharjya, Adviser, AASU were felicitated in the programme. Minoti Khound (Violin), Hem Hazarika (Sitar), Jeeten Basumatary (Hindustani Vocal), Debojit Roy (Hindustani Vocal), Biswajit Roy Choudhary( Violin), Tarun Kalita (Sarod),...
Bina Hazarika, noted writer and social activist , passed away at Marwari Maternity Hospital, Guwahati on November 5, 2015. Born in Goalpara in 1932, she was married to Late Tara Prasad Hazarika, noted freedom fighter. She leaves behind her sons, daughter-in-laws, grandsons, granddaughters and a host of relatives and admirers. Her cremation at the Bhootnath crematorium was attended by a large number of mourners.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has stressed best possible measures to ensure soil conservation.Gogoi told the soil conservation department officials when he reviewed the status of projects with officials at a meeting in Dispur on Saturday. He asked to come up with good performances.He said promising performance would help mitigate the misery of the people mired in poverty, unemployment. Flanked by minister Chandan Sarkar, the chief minister said that rewards will be given to those who deliver good performances. But in the samer breath, he announced atrict action will be taken against the erring officials.
The agriculture department steals the show receiving the Krishi Karman Award for its achievements in the field of pulse production in the year 2013-14.Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally presented the award to State Agriculture Minister Rakibul Hussain at a function of Soil Health Card and Krishi Karman Award distribution function held at Suratgarh Municipal Stadium in Rajasthan on Thursday in presence of Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, among other dignitaries.Two farmers of Assam – Amrita Surin of Christianbasti village of Sonitpur and Pradip Kumar Das of Athgaon Chapori of Nagaon – were also honoured with the best farmer’s award at the function.Assam has been ranked first...
Altogether 21,660 farmers and 11,477.362 hectares of farmland have been covered under the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) in 27 districts of the Assam for the Kharif 2014 season, that is – agricultural crops and horticultural crops like sali paddy, jute, black gram, green gram, ginger, turmeric, lady’s finger etc., grown between June and September, 2014.The total premium amount collected under the scheme for the season so far stands at Rs 46,81,77, 830. Fifty per cent of this amount is paid by the famers, while the remaining fifty per cent is being paid by the governments at the Centre and in the State. While the State Government provides 25 per cent of the premium, the Central...
A scientist from Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) in Jorhat has fetched no less ray of hope in the field of tea industry. He claimed to have found that the Kenyan purple tea, in fact, was originated in Assam and that such tea bushes are still found in the state.Purple tea, claimed to have a host of medicinal properties, has carved out a niche for itself in recent years in Kenya in the domestic market and as an export variety. Kenya is the only country that manufactures purple tea, which fetches three to four times the price of black tea.He is none other than Pradip Baruah. The principal scientist with the Tocklai Tea Research Institute observed that the clone Tea Research Foundation of...
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched a Reefer Vehicle Call-In Centre in New Delhi on Thursday.It would facilitate smoother transportation of perishable goods by providing redressal to issues that reefer van operators face on the highways.The minister said that the cold chain sector is fast growing, and key products including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, confectionery and pharmaceuticals are critically dependent on it.The RVC will help crate a database of bottlenecks and their types across the national highways.According to him, the initiative, perhaps first of this kind in the world would provide help in registering the complaints of more than 30...
1st Assam International Agri-Horti Show 2014 will begin from Wednesday at Guwahati. Participants include the America, Italy, China, Myanmar, South Africa, the UK, Laos and Israel. "This is the largest conference cum exhibition in the agriculture and horticulture sector in the North East. It will showcase the strength of Assam in cultivation of different varieties of crops," said Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka. More than 5,000 farmers from different parts of the state to participate in the event.
Add new comment