No rains but Andhra yet to declare drought

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government has not declared the state drought-hit despite poor rainfall and poor sowing.

Monsoon clouds have continued to play hide and seek with farmers in Andhra Pradesh and only 34 lakh hectares of land has been sown out of 50 lakh hectares earmarked for sowing this year.

But the state government is shying away from acknowledging the glaring drought condition.

Congress workers are unwilling to tarnish the image of YS Rajasekhara Reddy as the lucky charm for the state monsoons. It is a claim that has stemmed from the fact that the state ended its seven-year drought in 2004 as soon as YSR took over as the Chief Minister of the state.

It is not relevant if or not we declare a few districts drought-hit. We have anyways started working on our contingency plan," claimed Andhra Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy.

The government has already spent Rs 160 crore to subsidise seeds.

YSR has directed officials and ministers to keep a tab on ground condition and report on a day to day basis.

Cattle camps are also being readied to meet fodder requirements. While the farmers association is pressing the government to reschedule farm loan repayment and also waive off the interests, but the government has decided to review the situation again, before declaring the state drought-hit.

"It is high time they acknowledge the drought condition. There is no point in hiding ground realities. Who are we hiding it from anyway?" said P Chengal Reddy, Honorary Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Federation of Farmers Association.

Congress workers in Andhra Pradesh have for long claimed that rain gods are on their party's side. But no amount of prayers by the Chief Minister this year, seem to bring in the monsoon clouds.

With officials continuing to reassure farmers of possible rainfall, the government it seems is not ready to come out of its denial mode, just yet.

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