Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 9
Nagaland’s Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Minister for Agriculture Dr. Chumben Murry will be leaving for Delhi right after August 15 for a meeting said to have been convened by the Prime Minister to discuss matter related to the ongoing ‘drought-like situation.’
It was informed by sources in the state government tonight that the chief minister and the Agriculture minister would be attending a meeting with the Prime Minister and other central leaders in the meeting which is said to have been scheduled for right after Independence Day, August 15. The meeting with the state governments is understood to discuss course of action to counter the situation across the country following the still-scanty monsoon. India’s agriculture and allied sectors, is the hardest-hit by the scant monsoon this year.
The Chief Minister’s Office could not be reached for confirmation. However, when contacted, Nagaland’s Minister for Agriculture Dr. Chumben Murry said he would be one among the state’s ministers accompanying Neiphiu Rio to Delhi for the said meeting. It is understood that the presence of allied departments such as horticulture would be in the meeting.
Until the meeting and its outcome, Nagaland will have to wait for any assistance from the centre to her farmers affected by the ‘drought-like situation.’ It was informed that the state government is still awaiting response from the central government after both Neiphiu Rio and Dr. Murry each submitted separate “preliminary report” of the current situation. The preliminary report, according to Dr. Murry, was particular to the situation of mid-July when the then ‘dry’ monsoon spell was on. No grant-in-aid or assistance specific to the situation in question, has been received, it was informed. Assistance or grant-in-aid, if any is extended to Nagaland would be known only after the meeting, Dr. Murry said.
However, the state government is doing its best how to help affected farmers of the state, Dr. Murry said. He said a contingency plan, among others, is on hand if the situation worsens. The contingency plan, he explained its gist, is in the form of providing alternative seasonal seeds such as pulses if the monsoon fails. “Some sanction” has also been “committed” by the government, he said. The amount of financial “sanction” could not be made available. However, for ‘overall assistance’ (from the centre) has yet to be, he said.
In a conference with state chief secretaries yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had assured all state governments of “assistance” to counter the draft left by poor monsoon.
