
The data on the losses caused due to natural calamities is not maintained centrally by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. However, the state government of Kerala in its memorandum dated August 17, 2024, had reported 359 persons dead or missing, 95 persons with more than 40 per cent injuries, 378 injured persons hospitalised due to the landslide in Wayanad, Nityanand Rai, Minister of State in the ministry told the Rajya Sabha on December 4, 2024.
In the wake of the landslide, an InterMinisterial Central Team (IMCT) was constituted on August 2 by the Centre to assess the damage, without waiting for a memorandum from the Government of Kerala. The IMCT visited the affected areas of the state from August 8-10.
The calamity at Wayanad has been adjudged to be of a ‘severe nature’ by the IMCT. The state government submitted its memorandum on August 19, seeking additional assistance of Rs 214.68 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund for providing temporary relief assistance of immediate nature. This included an estimated Rs 36 crore for the removal of debris, which was yet to be incurred, Rai said.
The Pradhan Mantri-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (PM-SGMBY) scheme targets to achieve rooftop solar installations in one crore households in the residential sector by FY 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs. 75,021 crore. A financial outlay of Rs 9,600 crore has been allocated at Revised Estimate stage during the year 2024-25 for the scheme, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy told the Lok Sabha.
A total of 14.5 million registrations and 2.649 million applications have been reported received on the national portal of the scheme. Rooftop solar installations under the scheme have benefitted 638,000 households till November 28, 2024, Joshi said.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing a scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” with a target capacity of 40 GW. Under the said scheme, as on August 31, 2024, 55 solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 39,958 MW have been sanctioned in 13 Indian states, Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for New & Renewable Energy and Power told the Lok Sabha.
The Centre has sanctioned four solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 1105 MW under the scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects” in Maharashtra. This may attract an investment of around Rs 5,000 crore.
Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, 775,000 pumps have been allocated under Component-C (Feeder Level Solarization) which would result in addition of around 3875 MW of solar capacity. This may attract an investment of around Rs 13,500 crore. Under Component-B of PM-KUSUM scheme, 505,000 pumps are being installed which would attract additional investment of around Rs 13,000 crore, Naik said.
There is no systematic data available with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying regarding the use of antibiotics by poultry farmers across the country. However, it has been reported that many poultry farmers use antimicrobials as non-therapeutic feed additives, including as growth promoters, Rajiv Ranjan Singh Alias Lalan Singh, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying told the Rajya Sabha.
Under the pilot project of the world’s largest grain storage Plan in the cooperative sector, godowns at Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) level have been constructed in 11 PACS of 11 States namely Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Telangana, Tripura and Rajasthan, with the support of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) & NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS).
Of 11 constructed godowns, three have been kept by PACS for their own use in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana. Three have been hired by state/central agencies in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Amit Shah, Minister of Cooperation told the Rajya Sabha.