President's intervention sought for relief to M.P. farmers

Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with his cabinet colleagues staging a fast in Bhopal on Thursday against the Union Government's alleged apathetic attitude towards rain-hit farmers of the state. PTI Photo (PTI3_6_2014_000039A)

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sought the intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee for directing the Centre to offer a relief package to hailstorm-hit farmers of Madhya Pradesh.

On Thursday a delegation led by senior party leader Sushma Swaraj presented a memorandum to Mr. Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

The delegation told the President that despite a high level committee's recommendation of Rs. 388 crore to be paid by the Centre, the amount was yet to be released.

The memorandum also submitted that the Centre and the NAFED should be asked to make arrangements for procurement of gram at the minimum support price in the State and aid in providing farmers the appropriate rates for their produce.

The memorandum also called for revisiting the norms of granting relief prescribed by the National Disaster Relief Fund on the gorunds that they were very stringent.

President’s intervention sought for relief to M.P. farmers