The government may have finally started taking measures to minimise the impact of the drought and the Met office has only recently started talking about drought-like conditions in several parts of the country. But not everyone in the government was unaware of the impending crisis. Way back in June, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had warned chief ministers of many states of the prospect of deficient rainfall. The information was sent in the context of a probable increase in demand for work under the Centre’s employment guarantee scheme if the monsoons failed. The question everyone is asking now: why couldn’t everyone anticipate what Ramesh did two months ago?
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
