Open to revising definitions of flood, drought, unseasonal rain: Gujarat CM

Unlike the Pradhanmantri Fasal Bima Yojana, there is no premium that the farmer has to pay for applying for the scheme.

During the discussion, Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani had demanded the revision of the criteria to define drought and flood under the scheme. He said, “The definition of flood and drought under the scheme are such that it will exclude lakhs of farmers of the state from the benefits of the scheme.”

Giving an example of the definition of flood under the scheme, Dhanani asked, “If it rains 25 inch in 48 hours, would there be any farmer alive to take benefits of the scheme?” He said that the definitions should be on the lines of the current State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms of flood and drought. As per one of the rules of the MKSY, the scheme is applicable to farmers of South Gujarat region if it rains more than 35 inch in 48 hours. Similar figure for other districts of the state is 25 inch in 48 hours.

Responding to Dhanani’s demand, CM Rupani said that when the government sat to decide the definition of flood, it considered the 2015 flood of Amreli and the 2017 flood of Banaskantha.

“I want to make a clarification that we have declared this scheme with an intention that farmers should get protection. We are open to modify the norms in future. We can sit together and certainly think it over,” Rupani said.