RANCHI: Two days after it declared 129 blocks in 18 districts severely and moderately drought affected, Jharkhand government said it will take up a fresh assessment of crop loss in four more districts to evaluate a possible drought like scenario in these parts.Of the 129 blocks, 93 were declared severely affected and 26 moderately affected in a notification issued by the state government on November 18. The state cabinet on Tuesday gave its post-facto approval to home and disaster management’s proposal to declare 129 blocks drought hit.Cabinet secretary SKG Rahate, who is also the home secretary, on Tuesday said several pockets of Khunti, Gumla, Hazaribag and Simdega will be assessed for crop loss and other parameters after farmers approached the district administration.Though Rahate did not elaborate on how many blocks in these districts are staring at a drought like scenario, Rahate said consensus for a fresh assessment was reached at the meeting of state working committee presided by chief secretary Sudhir Kumar Tripathi at Project Building on Tuesday.Saryu Rai, the state’s food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister, on Tuesday wrote to chief minister Raghubar Das and suggested that the state government must pay Rs 200 extra on each quintal above the minimum support price (MSP) for second category paddy keeping the drought scenario in mind. The MSP for each quintal of paddy is fixed at Rs 1,700 for FY 2018-19.

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