By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : An all-party delegation from Kerala will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek central assistance in the wake of huge losses to farmers due to unexpected rain in March.
“We have asked for an appointment with the prime minister and once we get that, we will meet him,” Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan told reporters here Wednesday after the weekly cabinet meeting.
He said that due to the rains crops in 20,000 hectares of land have been destroyed. The worst affected area was Kuttanad in Alappuzha district. Farmers in Trissur and Kottayam districts have also been affected.
“We have decided to write off the farm loans taken by the four people who recently committed suicide after the rains destroyed the crops. A sum of Rs.50,000 will also be given to the families of these four people,” he said.
He criticised the central government’s policies, especially the procurement and distribution of food grains.
“The central government stopped the supply of ration (food grains for public distribution system) which we used to get before and this is causing a hike in price of rice,” he said.