Dear Brothers and Sisters, More than five crore people in various parts of our country are in the grip of a severe drought.
Crops have withered away, water sources have dried up, there is no fodder for cattle.
In village after village, hunger stalks men, women and children. They can only stare at the parched earth and hope that this year the monsoon will not elude them. But the rains are still months away. We cannot leave our own brothers and sisters at the mercy of their fate or the cruelty of vagaries of nature. At this moment they need our help - to tide over the calamity that has fallen upon them, to survive hunger and disease, to rebuild their lives and to save their cattle that often are their only wealth.