Imphal, Jul 5 (DIPR) To ease the woes of farmers caused by the drought like situation in the State, Chief Minister N Biren Singh distributed irrigation pumpsets to farmers today at Manipur Minorities & Other Backward Classes Economic Development Society (MOBEDS) office located at North AOC. Speaking at the function, the Chief Minister stated that such measure is aimed at combating the drought like situation seen in the State. 157 River Lift Irrigation (RLI) schemes have started functioning to provide water to paddy fields, he added. He mentioned that Minor Irrigation Department is working rigorously to provide irrigation facilities in various parts of the State. Biren stated that the Agriculture Department and MOBEDS would be providing around 126 irrigation pumpsets to needy farmers. Another 100 pumpsets would be procured in the next 4-5 days to deal with the situation, he added. He urged elected representatives to approach the Agriculture Minister and other Ministers concerned for agriculture related support including water pumpsets. During the function, around 40 irrigation pumpsets were distributed to the farmers. Agriculture Minister V Hangkhanlian, Forest and Environment Minister Th Shyamkumar, Education Minister Th Radheshyam, MLAs and officials of MOBEDS were present during the function. The irrigation pumpsets were distributed under the Economic Development Programme (EDP) of the Manipur Minorities & Other Backward Classes Economic Development Society (MOBEDS).