As several districts across the State have been receiving rains for the last few days, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday took stock of preparations made by officials to supply agricultural inputs to farmers during the kharif season and precautionary measures taken in the wake of heavy rainfall.
Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goyal, and senior officials of Agriculture and Finance departments informed the Chief Minister on the preparations made to distribute farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and subsidies under various schemes to farmers.
The Chief Minister instructed the officials to ensure that there is no shortage of sowing seeds and fertilizers for the kharif sowing season. He reviewed the implementation of budget programmes in the agriculture sector.
No artificial scarcity
Mr. Siddaramaiah reportedly told officials to monitor the supply and stocks and take all precautionary measures against creation of artificial scarcity. He told officials to be ready with precautionary measures to be implemented during rain havoc.
The officials have also been instructed to expedite the process of obtaining no-objection certificates (NoCs) from the Centre on pending infrastructure projects, including irrigation.
There was no official briefing about the meeting on account of the election model code of conduct.
Demand and supply
The officials reportedly briefed Mr. Siddaramaiah that steps have been taken at the district level to supply seeds to farmers. As per the estimates, about 53,500 quintals of seeds have been made available in districts. The State has a stock of 15 lakh tonnes of fertilizers against the requirement of about 26 lakh tonnes of nutrients, sources said.
The officials provided information to Mr. Siddaramaiah about steps taken to distribute drought relief to farmers who had lost crops in the kharif season of 2023. The relief has been provided to close to 20 lakh families of farmers.
Several Ministers have called on the Chief Minister during the last few days and urged him to expedite the process of providing compensation to farmers impacted by the drought. The State had declared 223 out of 236 taluks drought-hit last year.
The Ministers have not been able to hold meetings and review the progress made to undertake farming operations and provide drought relief owing to the poll code.
The State had sought ₹18,172 crore compensation from the Centre as per the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). The Centre had released ₹3,454 crore drought relief under the NDRF.
One year in office
The Congress government would complete one year in office on May 20, 2024. The officials updated Mr. Siddaramaiah on the government orders issued for implementing schemes announced in the State budget for 2024-25.
