Wednesday, Aug 25, 2004
Wednesday, Aug 25, 2004 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 24. The State Government today urged the Central team visiting the State to assess losses from natural calamities to recommend an urgent assistance of Rs. 315 crores to the State. The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, told the team headed by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Satish Chander, during discussions that the assistance needed to be made available by early September. Separate norms, he said, should be applied for assessing damage to cash crops from drought. Sea erosion Sea erosion and accidents occurring at sea on account of rough seas should also be included within the definition of natural calamities. After the discussions, the Chief Minister told presspersons that he was sure of getting assistance this time though the Centre had not responded to its earlier representations. Suicide of farmers This was the first time that suicide of farmers occurred in large numbers in the State. As many as 173 farmers had committed suicide in the State. The Government wanted to provide at least Rs.1 lakh as assistance to their families besides finding them a means of livelihood. The State Government had already taken steps to provide Rs. 50,000 to each family. It had sought a total assistance of Rs.10 crores to help the families of suicide victims. He noted that three to five years would be needed to restore the productivity of cash crops damaged by the drought. So, the farmers should be provided with alternative employment and assistance for intercropping and other means to shore up their earnings. Their loans and interest on them needed to be written off. Mr. Antony said that he, his Ministers and officials had impressed upon the team the need to give special consideration to Wayanad where the farmers were still suffering from the loss of pepper vines and fall in the prices of coffee and other commodities. Tribals constituted a major segment of the population there. Sea erosion The coastal areas of the State were facing increasing levels of sea erosion. Many had lost fishing boats and gears in monsoon-related havoc. Assistance should be provided to them and this called for change of norms by the Centre. He said the team would be visiting Alappuzha, where much loss had occurred on the fisheries front, on Wednesday and Wayanad and Palakkad the next day. The Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gouri, and the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, would be joining the team in Palakkad on August 27 for further discussions.
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