Sonia writes to Akhilesh Yadav, seeks relief for farmers

Lucknow: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, seeking relief for farmers whose crops were damaged in the recent rains and hailstorm.

In her one-page letter, written late last month, Gandhi requested Yadav to relax norms for farmers of her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli. Copies of the letter were released to media persons by the party's state unit here.

Though the farmers in the district suffered only 15-20 percent crop losses, they have lost their major source of earning, Gandhi pointed out.

Financial assistance is given to those farmers who suffer 50 percent or more crop damage.

Gandhi had last week visited her parliamentary constituency and met farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorm over the previous week.

An official of the state government, meanwhile, said chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had already rolled out relief measures for the affected farmers.