New Delhi: The state government finds itself in a fix with the Centre releasing less than half the amount sanctioned under the National Disaster Relief Fund for relief work in drought-hit areas in the state.
While earlier a committee headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh had approved the sanction of Rs 1,782.44 crore to Karnataka for relief work in drought-hit areas only a sum of Rs 450 crore had been released in the first installment.
Further while the state received an intimation from the finance ministry that the money was released on February 6, the money is yet not been credited to the state government’s account.
The state government which had already promised farmers that it would directly deposit the relief money into their accounts, is wondering how to disburse the meagre amount. “If we release this money to a few farmers, the state government will face the wrath of the rest of the farmers who too have suffered crop loss,” said an official adding that while the state hopes the money will be credited in a day or two, it was upto Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to decide whether to distribute this money to farmers or to districts facing severe water crisis.
State government officials also believe the Centre should have released the funds in one tranche instead of in installments. Besides, the state is also waiting for the Centre’s response for its plea to send an expert team to assess winter crop loss due to dry weather.
Earlier in the day, Chamarajnagar MP Dhruvanarayan in the Lok Sabha demanded that the Centre release more money to Karnataka to take up relief work in calamity-hit areas. Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar said the Centre is aware of the situation in the state and promised to address the problems.
