Madhya Pradesh seeks drought relief

from India E-News

The people of Madhya Pradesh will observe fast from April 30 if the centre failed to meet the state's demand for adequate drought relief and food grain allocation, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan warned Wednesday.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chouhan said the state was a victim of the central government's 'step motherly treatment' in the allotment of food grains. Complaining that the availability of food grains for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the state is a meagre 20 kg per family per month, he demanded its enhancement to 35 kg per family per month for the 6.2 million families holding BPL Cards in the state.

He also demanded early sanction of the proposals sent to the central government for relief to the six severely drought affected districts of Bundelkhad region and three districts of Vindhya region.

Reminding the prime minister of his meeting with him Jan 22 and appraisal of the drought situation in the state, Chouhan said the Madhya Pradesh government submitted a proposal of Rs. 15.48 billion for the drought affected districts but to no avail.

'Besides, the demand for a separate package of Rs.24,244 crore (Rs.242.44 billion) for six severely drought-affected districts of Bundelkhand and three districts of Vindhya region, too, has failed to yield any result,' he said.