Rajasthan Agriculture minister urges Centre to declare locust menace national disaster

Jaipur: Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria on Friday urged the Central government to declare the menace of locusts a national disaster in the interest of farmers.

During a video conference with the Union Agriculture Minister, Kataria also demanded the Centre to release the first instalment of centrally-sponsored schemes at the earliest.

Giving information about crop loss in the state due to locusts, Kataria asked the Agriculture Insurance Company to pay the outstanding insurance claim of Rs 380 crore for Kharif-2019 of farmers as soon as possible.

The minister claimed that the first instalment of most of the centrally-sponsored schemes for the year 2020-21 has not yet been released and the first installment of all schemes should be released immediately to the state in view of the interest of farmers.

Hanuman Beniwal, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP from Rajasthan`s Nagaur has also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to declare locust attack a national disaster and provide relief to the farmers.