A high-level central government committee has recommended a Rs. 1,304-crore drought relief fund to Uttar Pradesh. The relief amount will be distributed directly into the bank accounts of farmers within a week, The Hindu quoted the officials in the Prime Minister's Office as saying. The decision to provide the monetary assistance under the National Disaster Relief Fund was made late on Saturday, at a meeting of the panel headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

At the meeting, the Uttar Pradesh government assured the Centre that a contingency plan to tackle the drinking water situation in the Bundelkhand region, especially in the districts of Mahoba, Chitrakoot and Banda in Chitrakoot division, is ready and will be soon implemented, officials added. The committee was set up after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that the the impact of drought in Bundelkhand, as well as in Vidharbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra, be reviewed.

The state government was directed to ensure that farmers have maximum crop insurance under the recently-launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. They also decided to prioritise providing water tanks, and building dug wells and farm ponds under various projects and schemes in Bundelkhand.