Hyderabad, Sept 9:
The State Government has already initiated several relief measures to mitigate the sufferings of the people. Convening a meeting with Agriculture department, Irrigation and Revenue officials at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that Horticulture Department formulated contingent plan for Rs 142.51 crore for raising vegetables, rejuvenation of sweet orange and for supply of seed material.
The Animal Husbandry Department has so far supplied 27,000 quintals of fodder seed for cultivation of fodder and cattle camps are being organised wherever necessary as part of contingent plan of Rs 350 crore.
Similarly, the drinking water supplies are being augmented through transportation of drinking water, deepening of bore wells and hiring of private sources as per the action plans prepared by Panchayat Raj & Rural Development department.
The Rural Development Department has initiated several measures under NREGS to provide wage employment to all those seeking additional employment due to reduced agriculture activities. The Government has also nominated senior IAS Officers as Special Officers to the Districts to effectively monitor the implementation of drought relief measures in the State.
A drought grievances redressal call centre is in operation with toll free No.1100 for BSNL users and 1800-425-1100 for mobile users. He said that all crop loans given to farmers will be converted to term loans repayable in five years and fresh crop loans will be issued. Similarly, term loans for bullocks, milch cattle, poultry & piggery will be sanctioned as per assessment and norms. Commissioner, Disaster Mnanagement, Dinesh Kumar, Commissioner for Drought S Balasubramaniam, Agriculture Commissioner Sunil Sharma and other officials attended the meeting.