Srinagar, June 6: State Secretary CPI(M) and MLA Kulgam M Y Tarigami has demanded a special central package for rehabilitation of the farmers, growers and livestock owners who suffered massive losses due to recent natural calamity in J&K. 
 He urged the state government to assess and project the losses before the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh during his visit to the state so that special financial assistance  from the centre could be assured for providing relief to the affected people due to recent rains, snowfall and hail-storm. 
 In a statement issued here today, Tarigami urged the government to take contingency measures to provide early relief to the victims and said that till final losses are ascertained they should be provided immediate relief as per preliminary assessment. 
 Referring to recent hailstorm in North Kashmir, he said that due to losses ranging from 50 per cent to 80 per cent, the growers and farmers have been affected badly and left with no option but to carry on with their activities with the relief from the government.
 He said with the prevailing weather conditions in the valley future losses cannot be ruled out because of inclement weather and urged upon the government for the anticipatory contingency plan to ensure timely and accurate relief and rescue operations to minimize the losses.
 He said that Crop Insurance Scheme recently announced for the state be implemented during this Kharief season and stressed for inclusion of horticulture sector under the scheme.
 Mere announcements are not going to render any positive impact unless the scheme is implemented on ground. He also demanded full insurance cover to the live-stock population of the state.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST