Bhopal: Election year is going to be a challenging one for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for ‘natural’ reasons.
On Monday, a government spokesman said that 34 of 51 districts have received deficient rainfall.
Fifteen months ahead of elections, Chouhan faces a huge nature-driven crisis — perhaps the toughest in his 13 years as CM.
Though the government has not yet officially declared drought, a tight-lipped Shivraj has only said he would "take care of farmers". On Sunday, when reporters asked the CM in Chattarpur — a drought affected district of Bundelkhand — about his plans for farmers, Chouhan preferred to keep silent.
If a region checks out on all four parameters, the state will get 100% drought funds.
Amid all this, district collectors have started reviewing the situation.
B M Jamod, collector of Ashoknagar that has received 34% less rainfall this year, said, "It is government policy this year to advise farmers to cultivate crops that require less water.
We are advising them to sow varieties of wheat that require less water.
But farmers of Madhya Pradesh are not used to cultivate such varieties of wheat, like Sharbati.