Responsible action and statements : The 50 pc rain alibi - The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 30, 2012 -

Drought looming : The condition of Paddy field in Nambol Areas :: last week of July 2012 :: Pix - Bunti Phurailatpam

In a natural disaster lies the road map of a treasure hunt. Delhi is obviously wise to this.

The strict yardstick laid down by the Centre for any State to officially declare a drought seems to rest on two premises.

One is the unpredictable nature of Monsoon and the other is not to provide any space for fudging the situation and milk the numerous financial assistance and schemes that may be extended by the Government of India by projecting a false impression of the ground reality.

Weather charts cannot lie and so do too the record maintained at the Met office and herein lies the essence of putting the cap at less than 50 percent of the total rainfall before a place or a State can be officially declared as drought hit.

But then figures and statistics are not known to reflect the truth, always.

The truth, the bare fact, may just lie somewhere in between the figures totted up by the weather office and what is being said by the people.

Manipur has received 63 percent of the expected rainfall this season and hence cannot officially come under the category of the drought hit.

In the definition of the Central Government, the rain has been enough for cultivating the fields. However it also stands true that numerous paddy fields are lying dry, with the farmers unable to proceed with their activities.

Unsaid but what has been made starkly clear is the responsibility thrust on the State Governments to tackle such situations and the natural question that follows is whether the Congress Government here has been able to instil any sense of confidence that it is capable of doing the job at hand.

The State Government certainly cannot afford a Marie Antoinette. Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh seems to know this perfectly well.

The view of the Chief Minister that the Congress Government here cannot afford to make irrational and irresponsible statements and appear like a fool in front of the country is totally acceptable.

So far so good but has the State Government been able to responsibly and rationally respond to the situation here or not ?

A series of Cabinet meetings unable to arrive at a decision on the drought quotient, Cabinet-Ministers personally-visiting the paddy field to assess "'whether' We"" situation calls for a drought declaration instead of deputing experts, water pumps lying unused and gathering rust at the Minor Irrigation office, absence of any thoughts on irrigation etc do not exactly inspire much confidence.

Responsible acts and responsible statements are two sides of the same coin and one cannot exist without the other.

The less than 50 pc rainfall rider put up by the Centre should not be an alibi for the State Government to not respond responsibly to a situation where paddy fields are lying dry with the farmers unable to plant the crops.

Time that the question here moved from whether the Government should officially declare a drought or not and seriously study what ought to be done to tackle the situation.

Sixty three percent of rainfall and large tracts of paddy fields lying dry is a telling commentary of how the State has been relying only on the Monsoon.

Time to give more teeth to terms like irrigation, rain water harvesting etc.