How far will the deficient rainfall affect Chhattisgarh, a rice producing state?
In Chhattisgarh, 10 districts and more than 30 tehsils (sub-districts) have got 50% less rainfall this year and the water level (of) reservoirs is just 25% of total capacity. Due to the delayed monsoon, we have not been able to sow paddy in 10 lakh hectares. The state’s domestic supply and our food programme will not be affected by the reduction in rice production. We need just 12 lakh tonnes (of) rice. However, we are one of the major contributors to the Central pool of rice. We provide rice to six or seven states. (Chhattisgarh provides each below poverty line, or BPL, family 35 kg of rice a month at Rs2 a kg; the poorest of the poor pay Re1 a kg.) Does it mean that the drought will not affect the state’s economy? We have been doing fairly well even while other parts of the country and the world faced (a) financial crisis. We generate power, produce steel and cement, and the state has been doing pretty well in agriculture, too. Do you think the National Rural Employment Guarantee Sch
