RECENT
RAINS HAVE MITIGATED FODDER AND DRINKING WATER SHORTAGE IN DROUGHT-AFFECTED
STATES
REFORM
TO GET CENTRAL ASSISTANCE: AJIT TELLS STATES
The Union Agriculture Minister Shri
Ajit Singh today said that the rainfall in August and September
has mitigated the drinking water and fodder problem in the drought
affected states. However, he said that since there has not been
any significant rainfall in July, which is essential for the kharif
crops, has hit farmers badly. Addressing the 44th Annual
General Meeting of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
Federation of India (NAFED) here, Shri Ajit Singh said that the
difference between this year’s drought from other droughts is
that there is plenty of food grain and foreign exchange reserve,
as a result, the consumer will not be affected. However, he said
that this drought has spelt problems for the farmers. He said
that the severity of this year’s drought cannot be simply judged
from the statistics which says that the rainfall has been deficient
by 18%. However, the loss the farmers have suffered is huge. Shri
Ajit Singh said that unless detailed information is available
it is not possible to estimate the exact damage to the crops.
Regretting the functioning of Cooperatives
in several States, the Minister commented that these are functioning
like any other departments of the Government. He said unless that
is changed, Cooperatives can not be a peoples’ movement. He said
that the Central Government has taken a number of steps to reform
the Cooperative Sector to make them functionally autonomous. In
this connection, he mentioned the Multi-State Cooperative Societies
Act, NCDC Amendment Act and the National Cooperative Policy and
said only those States which reform their cooperatives will get
Central Assistance. Lauding the role of Cooperative Marketing
Federations, Shri Ajit Singh said that marketing of the farm produce
is a problem and with emphasis on diversification the problem
would be more acute. He said that Marketing Federations will have
to play a greater role in the changing scenario.
Minister of State for Agriculture,
Shri Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav said that Since the Centre has delegated
enough powers to the Cooperatives, they should no longer look
up to the Government for everything and try to stand on their
own. He said that unless more and more women participate in the
working of Cooperatives, it cannot be a truly peoples’ movement.
