Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Calls On Amit Shah, Seeks Early Release Of Rs 18,177 Cr Drought Relief

Karnataka government submitted its memorandum on September 22, leading to a visit by a central team in October, which subsequently submitted a report.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday seeking sanction for early drought relief at the Parliament complex. The CM requested the Centre to provide Rs 18,177.44 as an early drought relief to the state. On Wednesday, CM Siddaramaiah said, a central meeting of the high-level committee should be convened at the earliest to approve the drought relief for Karnataka.

A statement from Karnataka government said, during the meeting, the Chief Minister highlighted the severe impact of drought on small and marginal farmers in 223 out of 236 taluks in the state. Crops across 48.19 lakh hectares of farmland have been adversely affected.

Siddaramaiah informed that the state government had submitted a memorandum three months ago, seeking Rs 18,177.44 crore for drought relief and urged the Centre to expedite the matter.

While approving the drought relief, the CM urged the Centre to consider the latest farmers' population data rather than relying on the 2015-16 data, as per the statement.

The state government submitted its memorandum on September 22, leading to a visit by a central team in October, which subsequently submitted a report.

Addressing the same issue, Siddaramaiah had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Earlier, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi to request the Central government to release drought relief funds to the state.

In September this year, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah declared 195 taluks in the state as drought-hit, according to the rules issued by the Centre. He said the state will further submit a memorandum to the central government seeking relief for drought.