Govt to announce relief for AP, K'taka, Kerala

New Delhi, Jul 28: The centre is working out a rehabilitation package for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala where a large number of farmers have committed suicide, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.

The relief will be similar to the package announced for Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, he told the Rajya Sabha during question hour.

Under the new package, three districts in Kerala, Wayanad, Palakkad and Kasargod, will be covered. In Karnataka, six districts of Belgaum, Hasan, Chitradurga, Chikmagalur, Kodagu and Shimoga will be covered.

In Andhra Pradesh, 16 districts will be covered. These are Prakasam, Guntur, Nellore, Cuddappa, Chittor, Ananthapur, Kurnool, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.

During his visit to Vidarbha from June 30 to July 1, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had annouced a special package to mitigate problems of farmers in six districts of Wardha, Yevatmal, Amravati, Akola, Buldana and Washim.

The relief aims at establishing a sustainable farming and livelihood support system through debt relief to farmers, improved supply of institutional credit, non-crop centric and integrated approach to agriculture, assured irrigation facilities, watershed management, better extension and farming support services.

It also targets improved marketing facilities and subsidiary income opportunities through horticulture, livestock, dairying and fisheries.

UNI