Karnataka CM to Meet PM Tomorrow Over Drought Relief in New Delhi

BENGALURU: After requesting a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a couple of months ago, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Monday that he would meet the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss drought relief for Karnataka, which has been severely affected by a weak monsoon this season.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah disclosed the meeting with the Prime Minister in Bengaluru, stating that the scheduled meeting would take place at 11 am.

Considering the low rainfall in Karnataka, the State Government declared 216 taluks out of 236 taluks as drought-affected. The crop loss due to the drought situation has been estimated at Rs 33,710 crore, and a request has been made for the Central Government to release Rs 17,901 crore to tackle the drought. Teams from the Central Government visited various parts of the State to assess the drought situation in Karnataka.

Minister for Agriculture Cheluvaraya Swamy and Minister for Revenue Krishna Byre Gowda met with the Agriculture Secretary of the Central Government to brief him on the situation in Karnataka. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, expressing frustration over the delay in meeting the Prime Minister, accused the Modi-led Central Government of deliberately delaying relief to tackle drought in accordance with National Disaster Response Fund rules.

The Karnataka Chief Minister also criticized the Central Government for displaying a step-motherly attitude toward the state, citing delays in releasing the drought relief amount. He alleged that the Central Government has not released wages of about Rs 600 crore under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.