Click to play videoNew Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday admitted that almost half of the country was facing drought following scanty rains but claimed that he had seen worse droughts in his lifetime than the one India currently faces.
The Agriculture Minister in an interview to CNN-IBN said that about 45-50 per cent of the districts were now facing a drought-like situation. But he also added that the government had no choice but to wait.
"About 45 to 50 per cent of the districts in the whole country has been declared as drought-hit or facing drought-like situations by the state governments. I have seen droughts even worse than this when I was working in the state. The 1972 drought I recollect... it was worst drought," said Pawar.
CNN-IBN: Many would say that we had roughly two months of early warning. Yet at this point of time in those two months we were actually battling about whether this was deficient rainfall or whether this was deficient monsoon. We didn't really have a monsoon management plan. These two months could have been better used to equip ourselves to prepare for the situation we are in currently.
Sharad Pawar: It is a practice in this country... generally we wait till the end of August. You have to wait till the end of August. Sometimes you get rains then there is gap and then there is some rain. If you get substantial rain from end of August onwards... then definitely you can get second crop. So if out of three seasons you can get one or two good seasons... the country has not reached that position where every body…
CNN-IBN: But you don't believe that in those two months we could have been better prepared to tackle the situation.
Sharad Pawar: What to prepare for? See you cannot take decisions in such situations.
The Agriculture Ministers also said that the government had no option but to import pulses to deal with rising prices of the commodity.
Pawar's remarks come just a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a message of reassurance to the country on the drought front.
Addressing a one-day long conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi on Monday the Prime Minister admitted that India was facing drought but asked the chief ministers to not panic.
The Prime Minister claimed that the Government was well-prepared to deal with drought.
Earlier, Pawar, too, had asked all the chief ministers to start the relief operations in the drought-affected districts and clamp down on hoarders to ensure that prices do not shoot up.
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