Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

No need to panic, do not sap the Nation's self confidence cautions PM

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said there is no need to panic as we have a better understanding of how to handle a crisis like the drought. The Prime Minister was speaking at the special session devoted to the drought situation during the Chief Ministers meeting on Internal Security.

The Prime Minister said that we have faced problems like this before and now there is much greater elbow room to deal with this drought than in the past. He said that there is adequate stock of wheat and rice in our godowns. And what is more this time we have in place livelihood programmes like NREGA and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. He said that working collectively, pragmatic and practical solutions can be found while alerting against sapping the nation's self confidence.

The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukerjee said that the Group of Ministers will meet on a regular basis and that the ground reality was that the drought has set in. He said the NREGA is already there and it could be extended for drought relief purposes. He said there may be a shortage of fodder and pointed out that there may be a need to think of short duration crops. The Finance Minister commended the Gujarat model as to how NREGA could be used for restoration of water bodies. He said The PDS is the most extensive network but it needs to be geared up in an effective manner. He also said let us not press the panic button, we need to create confidence that the situation can be overcome.

Earlier the Chief Ministers presented the situation in their respective states and appealed for additional central funds. Those who spoke during the two hour meeting included the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, and the Governor of Jharkhand.