Expedite release of drought relief funds: Siddaramaiah to Centre

New Delhi: On Friday Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, and requested them to sanction at the earliest drought and flood relief funds of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state. Siddaramaiah met the two Union ministers separately. State minister T B Jayachandra and special representative of the Karnataka government in New Delhi, Appaji C S Nada Gouda were also present. According to sources, Siddaramaiah updated the Home Minister about the impact of drought and floods on agricultural crops as well as the farming community, and urged him to take action at the earliest to release the central aid. The Chief Minister had also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he failed to get it. [caption id=“attachment_3148432” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Siddaramaiah. PTI[/caption] In the meeting with the Union Home Minister, the Chief Minister informed that the state had already submitted a memorandum seeking a central aid of Rs 4,702 crore for drought-hit farmers in the 2016 kharif season and Rs 386 crore to take up relief works in flood-hit areas of the state. A central team, which visited the state last month to assess the situation, has already submitted the report and based on which the Agriculture Ministry has prepared a note. In a separate meeting with the Union Agriculture Minister, Siddaramaiah raised concerns about delay in releasing central aid to drought-hit farmers in the state. According to the sources, the Home Minister is expected to soon call a meeting to decide on the quantum of relief funds to be released to Karnataka from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). Karnataka is facing drought for the sixth consecutive year and has declared 110 talukas of 25 districts as drought-hit during the 2016 kharif season. Siddaramaiah also met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and conveyed birthday wishes to her.