Farmers leave homes in search of fodder, water
BARMER, JAISALMER Relief packets for droughthit villages stuck in red tape
to cope with the worst drought in the past four years, farmers from western Rajasthan’s Barmer and Jaisalmer districts are migrating to areas that could provide enough fodder and water for their livestock.
Worse, drought relief packages to farmers are stuck owing to bureaucratic red-tapism and model code of conduct, which came into effect on Sunday. The state will go to the Assembly polls on December 7.
This is fourth year that the two districts have recorded less than the normal rainfall. Between June 1 and September 30, Barmer received 125.15mm of rainfall against the normal of 243.40mm, or a 48.6% drop, which comes under the deficit category. Jaisalmer witnessed 111.87mm of rainfall against the normal of 158.40mm. The rainfall is 29.4% less than the normal and is in the deficit category.
Anansi Devi, sarpanch at Chokhla village in Barmer, said about 80 families had migrated from the village because they didn’t have any means to provide for their cattle. People from other villages in Sheo, Baytoo, Ramsar, Sedwa, Gadara Road and Chohtan blocks are also leaving for greener pastures.
On the other hand, the assessment of crop damage, which began this month, will be completed by October 15, following which the state will announced relief packages to drought-hit areas, Barmer district collector Shivprasad Madan Nakate said.
But the model code of conduct may delay the relief as the state government will need permission from the election department.
The Congress plans to make the delay in announcement of relief an election issue. “When our party was in power, we announced relief in August without waiting for the assessment report. In such a situation, norms need to be set aside to provide relief to people on priority,” Congress national secretary and former Barmer MP Harish Choudhary said. He said people had already started migrating, and the government was still busy with formalities.
The Opposition party has found an unlikely ally in some BJP leaders who are also unhappy with the delay. Chohtan Mandal BJP president Narpat Singh Dudhwa said, “People are not able to arrange fodder and water for their cattle. It would have been better if the relief procedure was started on time. This may have averted migration.”
Meanwhile, the secretary of disaster management, relief and civil defence department, Hemant Gera, said after the girdawari (crop assessment), the district collectors will send a report to the department, based
BARMER/JAIPUR:Struggling
on which if there was a droughtlike-situation a notification would be issued.
He said the model code of conduct did not interfere in providing drought relief to people. The state elections commission’s permission was sought only for new relief work, said Gera.
On the Congress’s claim that it started relief work in August, Gera said the compensation process was started after the state received poor rainfall and reported crop failure. This year, the state had received average rainfall, and as far as crop failure was concerned, it would be decided after the assessment report, he added.
JAIPUR:Police