Gehlot seeks Rs. 373 cr. Central aid

By Our Staff Correspondent

JAIPUR, NOV. 25. The Rajasthan Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok Gehlot, has urged the Centre to grant an assistance to the tune of Rs. 373 crores to the farmers of the State on the pattern of Punjab to compensate for the loss incurred due to distress sales in mustard, soyabean, bajra and paddy crops.

``The Rajasthan farmers are not getting remunerative price for their produce because the prices of agricultural inputs have increased considerably,'' Mr. Gehlot said in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. Calling for the grant, he pointed out that the Centre had already given the relief of Rs. 350 crores to the Punjab farmers on the same ground.

Mr. Gehlot said the farmers of Rajasthan should not be discriminated against and compensation for the distress sale should be paid immediately to provide relief to them in the current period of extreme hardship caused by the drought.

In the current year, there has been a kharif crop failure because of lesser rainfall, leading to decrease in the bajra production. Against the target of 22.25 lakh tonnes, the bajra production this year is estimated at only 12.94 lakh tonnes. Bajra is grown in an area of 50 lakh hectares in Rajasthan, which is about 40 per cent of the total area sown under kharif crops.

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