Hyderabad: With 80 per cent of the mandals receiving "deficit or scanty" rainfall, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Saturday directed Disaster Management Department to immediately release Rs 45.5 crore for carrying out urgent works to provide drinking water, alternative seeds and fodder to farmers.
Chairing a review meeting with officials concerned, the Chief Minister said, "The state government is fully prepared to meet adverse seasonal conditions."
Reddy would hold the next meeting on August 16 to take stock of the latest situation then, an official release said.
Assessing the requirement for funds for implemntation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme(NREGP) at Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore per month to meet the increase in demand for wage employment of 30 to 35 lakh labourers, he directed all departments to depute engineers and other staff to help the Rural Development Department ease shortage of manpower and generate employment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had on Saturday urged the Andhra Pradesh government to immediately convene an all-party meeting to discuss the prevailing drought conditions due to deficit rainfall in the monsoon season in the state.
Addressing a press conference, BJP Andhra Pradesh unit President Bandaru Dattatreya alleged that the state government had failed to announce an "alternative agriculture plan" to help the farmers, who had been staging agitations for the last two months.
The state government should supply seeds to the farmers free of cost, besides providing loans to them, he demanded.
He also urged the government to estimate the loss of damaged crops due to poor rainfall and shortage of power.
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