Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Assures Compensation for Crop Loss due to Hailstorms

Jaipur: Rajasthan agriculture minister Lalchand Kataria on Monday said that the state government has given instructions for special crop assessment (Girdawari) for the damage caused to rabi crops due to hailstorms, frost, and cold waves. He said that the state government is committed to providing proper compensation to the affected farmers. Kataria was speaking in the state assembly on behalf of the government regarding the situation arising out of frost and cold waves.

He said, "I assure the House that we will take full care of this special Girdawari and every effort will be made to provide full compensation for the loss caused to the farmer." He said that in 2022-23, rabi crop has been sown in 109.55 lakh hectares.

According to preliminary estimates, 2 to 40 per cent damage has occurred to the wheat, barley and gram crops. Substantial damage to mustard crops and horticulture crops has also occurred.

The damage mainly took place in Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Jaipur, Jalore, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, Sikar, Bharatpur, Pali, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Pratapgarh.

He said that there has been damage due to hailstorms in all the areas of the state. All district collectors have been directed to conduct an immediate survey in this regard and send the report of special Girdawari to the Disaster Management Department.

Village level revenue officer (Patwari) will visit the spot to assess the crop loss and give a report to the collector.
He informed the House that relief is being given to the affected farmers as per the norms of Disaster Relief Fund and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

He asked the public representatives to inform the department on receiving information about crop loss so that the affected farmers could get help at all levels.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Gulabchand Kataria demanded that the government should take steps to provide relief to the affected farmers at the earliest.

Speaker C P Joshi, pointing to the demand raised by some members during the discussion, asked the government to involve public representatives in the process of special Girdawari. He said that the government should again inform the House after the completion of the said process.