Drought is here but no need panic, says PM

New Delhi: Accepting that drought has “set in”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Chief Ministers to not panic.

Singh said that the Government is well-prepared to handle the crisis situation.

“There is no need to panic as we have a better understanding of how to handle a crisis like the drought,” the Prime Minister said at a special session on drought during a Chief Ministers meeting on internal security.

The Government has decided to hold a regular meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to review the situation.

“(The) GoM will meet on a regular basis and that the ground reality was that the drought has set in,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as saying in an official statement.

At the same time, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asked all the Chief Ministers to start the relief operations in the drought-affected districts and clamp down on hoarders to ensure that prices do not shoot up.

“We have faced problems like this before and now there is much greater elbow room to deal with this drought than in the past. There is adequate wheat and rice stocks in our godowns,” said the Prime Minister.

“And what is more this time, we have in place livelihood programmes like NREGA and RKVY,” he added.

Singh urged all the Chief Ministers to work together and cautioned against sapping the nation’s self-confidence.

The Finance Minister expressed similar sentiment.

“Let us not press the panic button, we need to create confidence that the situation can be overcome,” Mukherjee said.

While the Centre asserted the situation can be handled effectively, Chief Ministers sought additional funds to deal with the situation, according to the statement.

The country as a whole has witnessed rainfall deficiency of 29 per cent as on Monday and the number of districts reeling under drought or drought-like condition has gone up to 207.

Nine states – Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – have declared drought, partly or wholly.

Pawar urged the Chief Ministers to start relief operations immediately.

“Continuation of the prevailing climatic conditions is likely to affect production thereby negatively impacting food grain availability,” he said.

Observing that only 18 states and Union Territories have imposed stock limits on essential items, Pawar said “remaining states must also take necessary steps in this regard”.

Pawar asked the states to use resources to address the larger issue of food security and directed them to save standing crops and supply inputs as also farm loans.

Moreover, he asked states to ensure effective distribution under PDS.