Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was unnecessarily politicising the issue of drought relief to cover up failures of his government.
Speaking to presspersons at his residence in Hubballi on Saturday, Mr. Joshi said that the NDRF guidelines were not something that were issued by the present government. They were in place during the UPA government’s time too. In fact, after the NDA government came to power, several modifications were made and the quantum of relief was also increased, he said.
Referring to Chief Minister Siddaramaiha’s statement that there was no dearth of funds, Mr. Joshi sought to know why then no funds were being released for development works. “The guidelines on drought relief apply to entire country and Mr. Siddaramaiah also knows about it. He is unable to manage his finances because of the guarantee schemes and in order cover up the government’s mistakes, the Union government is being blamed,” he alleged.
