Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has requested all the MPs to undertake drought mitigation and water conservation activities from their MPLAD funds. In a letter to the MPs, Mr Singh said that large parts of the country involving many states have been afflicted by drought during last year. <br/><br/>He said states have faced drought both during Kharif and Rabi in the same year. The Minister said that the situation in some states was further exacerbated by failure of monsoon rainfall and drought during 2014.<br/><br/>He said, the back-to-back droughts in two consecutive years is a relatively rare phenomenon which not only affected farmers and families dependent on agriculture for income and livelihood but also created shortage of drinking water and foddar. <br/><br/>Mr. Singh said the Central and State Governments have worked in tandem to amulerate the condition of the population impacted by drought through financial assistance under National Disaster Response Fund and allocation under various centrally sponsored schemes like MGNREGA, Mid-Day meal scheme and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. <br/><br/>Agriculture Minister said all the MPs are allocated funds under the MPLAD scheme for undertaking development activities in their parliamentary constituencies. He expressed confidence that their participation in drought mitigation through MPLADS fund will go a long way in reducing the miseries of people affected by drought.