Ranchi: Due to the deteriorating condition of monsoon this time in Jharkhand there may be a drought situation in as many as 180 blocks of the state. This figure may increase or decrease in the future. In view of the drought situation, a high-level meeting was called under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh.
In the meeting, the Chief Secretary has directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts to work expeditiously on the registration of all the farmers through the Crop Relief Scheme. He directed that all the documents of farmers should be verified before registration.
The Chief Secretary had called this meeting in view of the deteriorating condition of the monsoon and the damage it is causing on the crops. Secretary of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Department Abu Bakr Siddiqui, Agriculture Director Nisha Oraon were present in the meeting.
The Deputy Commissioners of all the districts were associated with this meeting through video conferencing. During this, the Chief Secretary gave tasks to the Deputy Commissioners on many other plans. It has come to the fore in the meeting that the possibility of drought has increased in Jharkhand.
The Agriculture Department told the Chief Secretary, in comparison to the paddy crop in 18 lakh hectares of the state, only 30 percent has been planted so far this time. After the meeting, Agriculture Director Nisha Oraon said that there is a continuous review of the possible drought.
Looking at the condition of the monsoon, it is believed that this time 60 percent less food grains will be produced therefore such a situation the department is working on alternative farming.
The department has focused on the crop grown in less water she said adding that the Agriculture Department has also issued special guidelines to the officials regarding this. The director said that there is a plan to make available the seeds of alternative crops to the farmers very soon, so that the loss due to the farmers can be compensated in time.
She said that there is a process to declare districts or blocks as dry areas. In view of the situation, for declaring drought, the criteria set by the central government will have to be fulfilled first and after that the list of affected blocks will be sent to the Disaster Management Department.
The central team will visit the identified block and district to declare drought. After that they will prepare the survey report. It is clear that Jharkhand is on the path of drought, but it will take time to make an official announcement. On the other hand in the meeting, the Chief Secretary also gave many important instructions to all the Deputy Commissioners. The most important instruction in this should be speedy work on making caste certificates of all Scheduled Tribes – Scheduled Castes children at the school level.
It should be noted that in the schools of Jharkhand, instructions have already been given to all the districts by the Personnel Department to make caste certificates for the students of classes I to XII. The Chief Secretary has directed the Deputy Commissioners to work on the target of providing clean water from tap to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme running in rural areas. The Chief Secretary has also directed the Deputy Commissioners to connect every farmer with the PM Kisan Yojana.