Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced a slew of steps for saving the Samba crops in the delta region, besides announcing enhanced compensation for the crop damage, if any. She allocated Rs 69.88 crore for the package, apart from the compensation for crop damage.
After chairing a meeting of senior ministers and top officials here, the Chief Minister requested the farmers to act with new vigour to save the crops. She said though the direction of the Supreme Court to Karnataka to release 10,000 cusecs had come as a solace to some extent, it would be insufficient to protect the crops.
The CM said three-phase power had been given to delta farmers for 12 hours a day since November 29. This would be extended till February 2013. Similarly, to enable them use 32,000 pumpsets, Rs 600 grant per acre would be offered for buying diesel and Rs 15 crore would be allocated for this.
To avoid wastage of water, the government would provide 100 per cent subsidy for buying 180 metre HDPE pipes and Rs 12 crore would be allotted for this, she said. She added that 100 per cent subsidy would also be provided to buy flexible tubes (100 metres) and Rs 1.68 crore would be allocated for buying tubes.
The Chief Minister further said 300 multi-purpose sprayers would be purchased at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore to protect the standing crops. A sum of Rs 3 crore would be allocated towards operational costs.
She said steps would be taken to sprinkle MOP fertiliser and Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotroph so that the crops could withstand drought for seven to 10 days and Rs 4 crore would be allocated for this purpose. Besides, with a view to reducing the requirement of water, 500 mini portable sprinklers would be purchased at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore. To create awareness about these steps among farmers, camps would be conducted. For this, Rs 75 lakh would be allocated.
The Chief Minister further said steps would be taken to provide jobs for workers who lost work opportunities due to the scarcity of water, under the NREGA scheme. She said farmers who would be incurring losses even after all the above measures would get compensation as per the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme.
Jayalalithaa said considering the extraordinary situation, the State government would pay the premium for the insurance schemes on behalf of the farmers and this would cost the government Rs 30 crore. The farmers could get Rs 8,692 per acre as compensation through the insurance schemes. Besides, she had also directed the authorities to enhance the compensation from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per acre under the State Calamity Relief Fund. Hence, farmers could get a maximum of Rs 13,692 as compensation per acre.