Centre declares Kerala drought-hit, announces Rs 24,000 crore relief to eight states

The union government on Thursday declared Kerala as drought-hit along with seven other states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The central government also announced a drought relief package Rs 24,000 crore to the drought-affected states that would be distributed after assessment by central teams.

Apart from the drought relief package, the union government has allowed 50 additional working days under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The Kerala state government had declared 14 districts as drought-hit in October 2016 after the state received 34 percent less rain during the south-west monsoon and 62 percent less rain during northeast monsoon. Kerala had submitted a memorandum to the Centre on March 28, seeking an assistance of Rs 992 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund. A central assessment team would visit Kerala on April 18 to take stock of the extent of the damage. The relief fund would be determined on the basis of the central assessment team's report.

The union government on Saturday had claimed that it had released Rs 1,712.10 crore as drought relief to Tamil Nadu and Rs 1,235.52 crore for Karnataka from the National disaster response fund. In January this year, the Tamil Nadu government had declared all 32 districts as drought-hit and had sought relief and assistance of Rs 39,565 crore from the centre. Karnataka that is facing drought for the second consecutive year had sought relief of Rs 4,702.

OneIndia News