A BJP leader triggered a controversy by claiming that farmers can beat adverse weather and protect their crops by chanting Hanuman Chalisa.
Ramesh Saxena, a former MLA from Sehore in Madhya Pradesh, said that chanting of Hanuman Chalisa for an hour for five days will help in preventing adverse weather conditions in the region beset by hail storm.
Defending the call, the agriculture minister of the state said that chanting of Hanuman Chalisa should be seen as an attempt to prevent the “natural disasters” from happening. The minister claimed that this does not mean that farmers who have suffered losses are not being compensated.
Strong winds and hail storm hit many parts of Madhya Pradesh damaging crops. Sehore has been hit by very heavy hail storm which has damaged soya bean crops.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday that farmers who have suffered losses will be given compensation.
District collectors have been instructed to evaluate the damaged crops, he informed on his official Twitter handle.
ज्ञात हुआ है की प्रदेश के कई जिलों में ओलावृष्टि हुई है। मैंने सभी कलेक्टरों को निर्देश दिए हैं की फसल के नुक्सान के मूल्यांकन के लिए टीम भेजकर जानकारी लें। किसान भाइयों को चिंता करने की जरूरत नहीं है, उनके नुकसान की भरपाई की जाएगी।
— CMO Madhya Pradesh (@CMMadhyaPradesh) February 11, 2018
There has been a sudden change in weather in a few states of the country including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.