Use past methods to fight drought, PM told

New Delhi: Over 100 activists, economists and sociologists asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to respond to the drought in several states and urged him to implement traditional relief measure.

In their letter to Prime Minister they underscored the need for implementing existing measures such as the National Food Security Act, 2013 and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Emplo-yment Guarantee Act, 2005 in an effective and expanded manner.

“The response of central and state administrations to looming drought is sadly listless, lacking in both urgency and compassion. The scale of Mgnrega works is way below what is required and wages often remain unpaid for months. Even more gravely, the central and state governments are doing far too little to implement the National Food Security Act.

“Had the Act been in place, more than 80 per cent of rural households in the poorer states would be able to secure about half of their monthly cereal requirements almost free of cost. In a drought situation food security entitlements should be made universal,” said the letter signed by leading activists such as Aruna Roy, Harsh Mander, Jayati Ghosh, Satish Deshpande, Medha Patkar, Uma Chakravarty, Paul Diwakar, Bela Bhatia, Bezwada Wilson.