Responding to the drought relief announced by the Union government to Karnataka on Saturday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the amount released was not even a quarter of what the Centre was supposed to release as per the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
“Standing crops on 48 lakh hectares were destroyed in the drought in the State. The loss is to the tune of ₹35,000 crore. We submitted the drought report to the Union government in September 2023. As per the NDRF norms, the Union government was supposed to release ₹18,172 crore to the State to take up drought relief measures. Now, it has released only ₹3,454 crore after we moved the Supreme Court. It is less than even a quarter of the amount to be paid as per the NDRF norms,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said in Kalaburagi on Saturday and added that he would consult the senior officials and take a final call on the issue.
Continuing his tirade against the Centre, he said: “We asked for drought relief for the State as per NDRF norms. But, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that we had asked funds not for taking up drought relief but for implementing our guarantee schemes. We never asked a penny for the guarantee schemes nor would we ask it in the future,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
The legal struggle
He said that Karnataka had started its struggle to get its rightful drought relief from the Union government in September 2023, by submitting the formal request. “Ms. Sitharaman lied that we submitted our request for drought relief late. In fact, we had submitted it in September 2023. I had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 19, 2023, and requested him to release the drought relief funds as per NDRF norms. I then met Union Home Minister Amit Shah who headed the high-power committee and he said that the committee would meet on December 23 and decide the matter. When the committee meeting was not convened and the drought relief fund was not released, we moved the Supreme Court to claim our right,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, describing the chronology.
Responding to a query, he said the Supreme Court had not decided the drought relief amount but asked both Union and State governments to settle it mutually. “The case was posted for April 28 for the next hearing. The Centre has released a small portion of the relief amount a day before,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
A total 223 out of 236 taluks were notified as drought-affected. The agriculture and horticulture crop loss during Kharif 2023 has been reported in over 48 lakh hectares with the estimated loss of ₹35,162 crore. The government has sought ₹18,171.44 crore from the Centre under NDRF. The State has approached the Supreme Court under Article 32 for enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution to seek directions from the court to the Centre for release of funds under the NDRF.
Political slugfest
Ahead of the next round of elections in North Karnataka on May 7, this has led to a war of words. The BJP, on its official handle, thanked Mr. Modi for relief at a time when the State government was “busy in appeasement politics.”
The Congress leaders hit back. “The meagre amount only shows that the Centre has continued its step-motherly treatment,” said Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. Congress MP D.K. Suresh said the Centre had released “a meagre sum” as an eyewash, being aware that the sentiment of the people was growing against them.
