Karnataka seeks Rs 3310 crore drought relief, Centre sanctions Rs 795 crore

The Union Govt has approved Rs 795 crore as assistance to Karnataka from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). In 2016 -17, the total drought relief announced by Centre stands at Rs 2277 crore, the highest received by Karnataka from any government. The Centre has to release the funds at the earliest so that farmers can be compensated soon to help in sowing kharif crop. The relief funds will be directly transferred to the farmer's’ account under the transparent transfer technology platform

The Central government has approved a relief of Rs 795.54 cr to the State towards Rabi crop loss. State Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa and Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda had gone to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to request for drought relief funds. By then a meeting of the High Level Committee was already convened by him, in which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and other senior officials were present. After meeting the Union Home Minister, the State ministers addressed a press meet at the Karnataka Bhavan and within minutes the announcement was made by the Centre, reports Kannada Prabha.

The State had sought a drought relief of Rs 4,702 crore for monsoon failure. The Centre had agreed to sanction Rs 1,782 crore but released Rs 1,672 crore. Now, for Rabi cross loss, the State had asked Rs 3,310 crore but the Centre has approved Rs only 795.54 crore. With this the total relief sanctioned by any Central government to Karnataka stands at Rs 2,577 crore, the highest so far, reported Kannada Prabha.

Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda said the Centre has to release the funds at the earliest so that farmers can be compensated soon to help in sowing kharif crop. For the kharif crop loss in 2016-17, the drought relief was released after three months delay. The relief funds will be directly transferred to the farmer's’ account under the transparent transfer technology platform, he said. Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa said though the approved relief fund is lesser than our seeking, we are satisfied with Rs 795 crore.