Admitting that the farmers in the State were reeling under a severe financial crisis owing mainly to the drought that had hit most of the State, Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvaraya Swamy said that the decision on the disbursement of drought relief would be taken by the Cabinet in its meeting scheduled for Thursday.
“A Task Force Committee is constituted to look into the matters related to drought and the relief. We will take its report and recommendations and take a final call on disbursement of drought relief at the Cabinet Meeting scheduled to be held on November 9,” Mr. Chaluvaraya Swamy said at a media conference at Raichur Zilla Panchayat on Monday.
Condemning the BJP-led Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not releasing the drought relief to Karnataka, Mr. Chaluvaraya Swamy said State government would felicitate the BJP Lok Sabha members at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of Karnataka Legislature, if they could get the funds due to the State released by the Union government led by their own party.
“The Union government has not released the drought relief so far. The Prime Minister and Union Agriculture Minister are not even giving an appointment to the delegation sent by the State government to discuss the issue of drought conditions in the State. The Union government is not even releasing ₹17,000 crore due to the State for paying the rural labourers working under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,” he said.
Exuding confidence of Congress winning the Assembly Elections in the five states, Mr. Swamy said that Mr. Modi was desperately attacking Congress after realising the impending defeat of his party in the elections.
To a question on the ongoing public debate over the change of Chief Minister in the State, Mr. Swamy said that the post of Chief Minister was not vacant currently and the call on changing or not changing the leadership in the State would be taken by party’s High Command.
BJP tour ‘a gimmick’
Terming the BJP leaders’ State tour in drought-hit areas as a gimmick with an eye on imminent Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Chaluvaraya Swamy said that any constructive proposals that the Opposition parties made for addressing the drought in the State would be taken in positive spirit.
To a question on whether or not the government was thinking about cloud seeding, Mr. Chaluvaraya Swamy responded negatively by stating that the previous attempts of cloud seeding were not successful in addressing the drought condition.
Minor Irrigation Minister N.S. Boseraju, MLA for Manvi Hampaiah Naik and other Congress leaders were present.
Earlier in the day Mr. Chaluvaraya Swamy participated in an international symposium on ‘engineering interventions for making millets a global food’ organised at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R) on its campus in the city.
