Manipur Agriculture Minister Thongam Biswajit on Wednesday assured that farmers will be compensated if the present drought-like situation continues and results in loss of crops.
The government has made plans to compensate the farmers through provision of crops for Rabi season, he said while responding to a calling attention motion raised by MLA Kh Joykisan over the scarcity of water for agricultural purposes in Imphal East.
Joykisan raised concern that the state may even experience famine if the government fails to intervene timely into the scarcity of water.
He sought information regarding the measures taken by the government to ease the plights of the farmers.
Minister Biswajit said that the government is ready to urge the centre to extend the deadline for getting benefits under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana so that the state’s farmers can get financial compensation.
He said that farmers can receive up to Rs 68,000 as compensation by charging a nominal amount of around Rs 1,300 only under the scheme.
Biswajit further informed the house that department officials have been assessing the situation and district level committees have been constituted with line departments like minor irrigation, water resources, command area development authority and measures are underway.
The government is arranging water pumps for those areas with water sources and distribution of the same has been started, he said.
He said that with the state experiencing early rainfall this year, the farmers were hopeful of even practising double cropping.
The government is well aware of the water crisis and already installed 375 tube wells across the state. “However, due to the high content of arsenic and iron in the water, we are consulting experts and finding ways to use the water safely,” he added.
