Bihar govt declares 206 blocks of 23 districts 'drought-hit'; collection of revenue tax and electricity bills of farmers to be waived

Patna: The Bihar government on Monday declared 206 blocks of 23 districts from the state as drought-hit. The decision was taken after chief minister Nitish Kumar called a high-level meeting to review of the situation arising following rain deficiency in many districts of the state. [caption id=“attachment_4963311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. PTI[/caption] During the meeting, Chief Secretary (Agriculture) apprised the chief minister with three parameters to access the situation, including the actual state of the agriculture land, the shriveling impact on farm produce and if production is less than 33 percent. The decision of declaring different blocks as drought-hit was taken after due consideration of parameters set-up by different departments of the state government. As part of assistance measures, the state government has decided that the collection of revenue tax, cess, and electricity bill of farmers from the earmarked blocks will be waived off for the financial year 2018-19. For protection and safety of farm produce, subsidy will be provided on agricultural inputs such as diesel and seeds. The beneficiaries of agricultural insurance will also be provided with the benefit of input subsidy. The state government has also announced that as part of drought relief measures hand pumps will be repaired, new pumps would be installed and water tankers would be deployed in places as necessary.