Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday sought liberal assistance from the Centre for drought relief in the state.
Interacting with an inter-ministerial central team that called on him after touring the drought-hit districts, he said the state would send a fresh request for assistance to the tune of Rs 3,006 crore.
A release from the Chief Minister's Office quoted him as saying that a few districts in the state are suffering from cyclone and floods on one hand and drought on the other.
He sought long-term assistance from the Centre to meet the situation arising out of natural calamities.
Seeking release of drought relief assistance at the earliest, the Chief Minister said the state government would add its share and distribute the fund to the farmers.
The Chief Minister also sought a bonus of Rs 120 towards the Minimum Support Price for foodgrains.
The central team lauded the well-coordinated approach of the state government in conducting drought relief operations, the release said.
The team appreciated that a comprehensive assessment of the crop damage has been done and that there are no complaints from any farmer that he is left out, it said.
A detailed drought memorandum was submitted to the Centre last month requesting assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) amounting to Rs 2584.42 crore.
Agriculture operations were badly hit due to erratic, uneven and non-receipt of adequate rainfall in kharif season 2011. Due to deficiency of rainfall in June, sowing of rainfed crops was delayed by nearly 15 to 30 days. Crop growth was further affected due to inadequate rainfall in September, the release added.
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