“The Union government does not seem to be serious about drought relief works in Karnataka,” Minister for Heavy and Medium Industries M.B. Patil said in Tidagundi village of Vijayapura district on Wednesday.
He was speaking to journalists after touring drought-hit areas in the district.
“In drought relief, the Union government has a bigger responsibility than the State government. But the government does not seem to have realised it. It sent a team to assess the drought situation here. But we do not know what is the report submitted by it. There is no intimation from the Centre about the relief we are entitled to. We do not know what has happened,” he said.
“The Prime Minister and Central Ministers have refused to spare time to meet the Chief Minister or Ministers from the State. The BJP has 27 MPs from Karnataka. They should convince the Union government about the prevailing drought situation here. But they are not bothered. I am not doing politics here. I am only asking the Union government and our MPs to come out in support of our farmers,” Mr. Patil said.
The Minister also said that the quantum of relief granted under National Disaster Response Fund norms needs an upward revision. The average cost of cultivation of sunflower, for example, is around ₹10,000 per acre. But the crop loss compensation farmers get is around ₹8,500 per hectare, which means ₹3,500 per acre. This is injustice. This needs to change,” he said.
“The State government is doing its part. After careful evaluation, we have declared almost all taluks of the State as drought-hit. We are taking up drinking water works on priority basis. We have released money to all Deputy Commissioners for drinking water works. The Chief Minister has told us that there is no dearth of funds for drinking water projects. The Chief Minister has asked all district in-charge Ministers to tour drought-hit areas and speak with local legislators and instruct officials to take up drinking water works. We are all doing that,” he said.
“The State Cabinet has decided not to restrict persondays under MGNREGA,” the Minister said. “We have asked officers to allow all willing workers get work under MGNREGA. This will ensure subsistence and plug migration,” he said.
“Vijayapura district is suffering one of the worst droughts in the recent years. Officers are telling me that nearly all of the lemon crop is damaged. Over 7,500 hectares of the 10,000 hectares are completely damaged and the rest is badly affected. Over three lakh acres of red gram crop has suffered damage,” Mr. Patil said.
