The Centre will work with the state governments to raise the compensation limit for farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.
"The Prime Minister is deeply concerned about the loss to the farmers.... The government would raise the compensation limit to help the farmers whose crops have been affected by rain and hailstorm," Mr Jaitley said while interacting with farmers in Timeli, one of the worst affected villages, about 65 km from district headquarters.
He noted that Rajasthan was one of the worst affected by the recent unseasonal rains and that there was major damage to crops in Bundi district. He assured the farmers of all possible help from the Centre.
Mr Jaitley said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed central ministers to visit the most affected areas so that assistance and compensation can be facilitated to the farmers.
Mr Jaitley was accompanied by Union minister for small scale industries Giriraj Singh, state agriculture minister Prabhulal Saini, state transport minister and local MLA Babulal Verma.
Mr Jaitley asked him how much it will cost to repair the house.
Mr Jaitley also met a five-year-old boy, who suffered a hand fracture during a hailstorm, and discussed with the district collector about provisions to assist the child.
Bundi district congress president CL Premi submitted a memorandum to the finance minister and demanded a compensation of Rs 12000 per bigha and Rs 70,000 per hectare to the affected farmers.
As per SDRF norms, the state governments can give input subsidy to farmers at the rate of Rs 4,500 per hectare for rainfed areas, Rs 9,000 per hectare for irrigated areas and Rs 12,000 per hectare for perennial crops.
The state governments have also been asked to submit a memorandum to the Centre in case the expenditure is more than the available fund in SDRF.
As per preliminary report, damage to rabi (winter) crops due to untimely rains is estimated at 181 lakh hectares across 13 states. The total cultivable area in rabi season is 600 lakh hectares.
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