Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and sought Central assistance to the State reeling under severe drought owing to 45% shortfall in rainfall.
During kharif 2018–19, 100 taluks were declared drought-affected. The estimated loss owing to kharif drought was about ₹16,660 crore.
A memorandum seeking financial assistance of ₹2,434 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund was submitted to the Centre. However, only ₹949 crore was released from the NDRF for drought relief in 72 severely affected taluks.
During rabi 2018–19, 156 taluks were declared as drought-affected. The estimated loss during rabi to agricultural and horticultural crops was ₹11,384 crore. Financial assistance of ₹2,064 crore under the NDRF had been sought for crop loss in the rabi season.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said the input subsidy amount had been directly credited to the bank accounts of farmers through Aadhaar-enabled payment service.
He also called upon Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other Union Ministers and sought their support for the State.
Meets Manmohan
Mr. Kumaraswamy and Congress Chief Ministers of four States met the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss issues of their respective States, especially those related to farmers and tribal people, to be taken up at the NITI Aayog meeting.
