By IANS,
Bhopal: The union government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the issue of relief package to Madhya Pradesh’s farmers, a statement from the chief minister’s office said here Tuesday.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had demanded that the union government include cold wave and frost as an eligible calamity for relief under the National Disaster Response Fund and the State Disaster Response Fund.
The cabinet secretariat has issued orders to this effect, said the statement.
Constituted with the approval of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the GoM will include union Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Sharad Pawar, Minister of Home P. Chidambaram and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Chouhan would be special invitee in the group, the statement added.
Chouhan had met the prime minister in New Delhi Feb 18 and had apprised him of the extensive loss of crop due to cold wave and frost in the state during winter.
He urged the prime minister to include cold wave and frost in the eligibility criteria for relief under the National Disaster Response Fund.
Chouhan had sought special package in the interest of frost-hit farmers.