Indian drought affects 25% |
A staggering 33 crore people, or more than a quarter of the India`s population, are in the grip of drought and consequently face drinking water shortage and agricultural distress. The government said it was releasing money to the affected states from its disaster fund to tackle the crisis. Additional solicitor general PS Narasimha, who submitted the data before the court on the basis of figures furnished by 10 states, said Rs 7,321 crore was released recently under MGNREGS in addition to Rs 12,230 crore disbursed earlier this month. He said more than 21 lakh households were granted more than 100 days of employment under the rural job scheme in these states. But the number of people hit by the drought could be higher as Bihar and Haryana haven`t declared such a condition despite shortfall in rain. The report stated that 2.55 lakh villages living in 254 districts are drought-affected.
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