The Karnataka authorities on Saturday filed a petition within the Supreme Court docket in opposition to the central authorities over the delay in disbursal of drought aid fund to the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah mentioned.
He alleged that the Centre has not launched the funds even 5 months after a ministerial staff submitted its report on the drought situation of the state.
“In the present day, we now have filed a writ petition beneath Article 32 with the Supreme Court docket in opposition to the Centre, in search of the discharge of the Nationwide Catastrophe Response Fund (NDRF),” the Congress Chief Minister mentioned.
Siddaramaiah asserted that the state, which is reeling from severe drought in the past few months, is entitled to obtain aid funds from the Centre as per the Catastrophe Administration Act of 2005.
“When a drought happens, and is extreme, this regulation is in place in order that the states can acquire aid. There’s SDRF and NDRF. Underneath the fifteenth Finance Fee, it has been determined how a lot every state will get. 75 p.c is from the Centre, and 25 p.c is from the state. It’s the obligation of the Centre and the state to answer the troubles of the farmers,” he added.
The Chief Minister additionally famous that the state had submitted three memoranda to the Centre and an Inter-Ministerial Central Group (IMCT) surveyed all taluks within the state and submitted a report back to the Centre on October 20, 2023. In keeping with the regulation, the compensation ought to have been given inside a month, the Chief Minister acknowledged.
He additionally acknowledged that the state authorities has raised the matter with the Centre on a number of events, but the fund was not launched to the state.
“Our ministers met the Union Finance and Agriculture ministers. I additionally personally wrote letters to the ministries, to the Dwelling Ministry as properly. I and Income Minister Krishna Byre Gowda met the PM on December 19. We requested an NDRF assembly and the discharge of the funds. And on December 20, we met Dwelling Minister Amit Shah. They mentioned {that a} high-level assembly was referred to as on December 23.
“The PM got here to Bengaluru later, and I reminded him. However nothing has been carried out thus far because the reviews had been submitted. No cash has been launched thus far,” the Chief Minister charged.
Additional, he mentioned the state has already disbursed Rs 650 crore to 33.4 lakh farmers, and Rs 870 crores have been allotted for water.
“However farmers want Rs 5,600 crore of aid. The remaining must be given by the Centre. It is an obligation on the a part of the Centre,” he added.
Karnataka has declared a drought in 223 out of 240 taluks, with 196 of them labeled as severely affected prior to now few months. In keeping with the federal government, it’s the grimmest it has been within the final 30–40 years. 48,000 lakh hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed due to the droughts.
