Naveen demands Rs 1027 crore Centre Aids for farmers
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has demanded a compensation package of Rs 1,027 crore from the Centre for the farmers in the state hit by unseasonal rains. The demand was made by Patnaik during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. The Prime Minister has assured Patnaik that a Central team would be sent to assess the situation. The crop loss was experienced in around 12 lakh hectares of land in the state. Patnaik had informed the assembly that farmers were badly affected due to heavy spell of unseasonal rain from December 6-13. “The state government had decided to assist farmers with an ex-gratia of Rs 2,000 per hectare who suffered crop loss of more than 50 percent due to the heavy unseasonal cyclonic rains. The state government would spend Rs 240 crore on this front”, he said. “This is over and above the agricultural input subsidy (AIS) at the rate of Rs 2,000 per hectare for rain-fed areas, Rs 4,000 per hectare for irrigated land and Rs 6,000 per hectare for per
