Rebutting the statement of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that financial relief to disasters was the ambit of the State government, using the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to which the Union Government had released funds in time, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds charge of Finance Department, said the argument was a “blatant lie” aimed to confuse people.
“Funds under SDRF are allocated every year and this is shared between the Centre and the State in the ratio of 75:25. SDRF is used for routine disaster relief. When the scale of the disaster is large, a memorandum is submitted to the Centre for funds under NDRF. Drought in Karnataka is unprecedented with 225 out of 250 taluks declared drought affected. The money available under SDRF is not sufficient to provide for crop failure of over 48 lakh hectares belonging to 34 lakh farmers. For providing relief for crop loss as per the norms we need ₹4,663 crores,” he said.
“We have been judicious in utilizing SDRF funds, especially in combating drought conditions. Yet, with drought-induced damages escalating beyond ₹37,000 crore, our plea for additional support of ₹18,171 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) seems to be falling on deaf ears,” he said. “The Finance Minister is perhaps deliberately confusing the two distinct funds,” he added.
