Thanking the Supreme Court for directing the disbursement of drought relief funds, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

BENGALURU: Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court on Friday for directing the Union government to give more than Rs 34 lakh in drought relief funds for the state of Karnataka in 2023.

He went on to say that this could be the first occasion in Indian history that a state has to go all the way to the Supreme Court to have its rights upheld.

We were successful in getting the Union government to provide Rs 3,498.82 crore in drought aid after tenacious efforts and an appeal to the Supreme Court. Thank you, Honorable Supreme Court. This may be the first time in India’s history that a state has been obliged to go all the way to the Supreme Court to have its rights upheld. It’s unfortunate that we have to wait for an answer till September 2023,” Siddaramaiah said in a post on X.

However, the chief minister of Karnataka voiced unhappiness with the financial support, claiming that only Rs. 3,498.98 crore was received, compared to the Karnataka government’s request of Rs. 18,000 crore.

“After the Honorable Supreme Court rung the bell, the Home Minister’s office eventually awoke. Ultimately, our farmers have received some justice. But the penalty is dreadfully insufficient. We received 3498.98 crores, although we had requested Rs 18,000 crores.” Siddaramaiah made a post addition.

On Friday, the Ministry of Finance gave its approval to the release of Rs 345422 crore for drought relief in Karnataka in 2023.

Previously, the Karnataka government asked the Supreme Court to order the Center to make a judgment right away and provide the state with financial support from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in a case submitted via attorney DL Chidananda.

According to the request, Karnataka’s residents are suffering from a terrible drought, which is having an impact on their lives.

“A total of 223 out of 236 taluks are declared drought-affected during Kharif 2023, with 196 taluks classified as severely affected and the remaining 27 classified as moderately affected. This is after meeting all the indicators in the Manual for Drought Management 2020. In contrast to its typical commencement on June 5, the Southwest Monsoon (SWM) arrived over the Karnataka coast on June 10, 2023.

After then, the SWM progressed steadily and, on June 24, instead of June 15, which is the typical coverage date, blanketed the whole state. Malnad districts and North Interior Karnataka districts, which have significant agricultural areas, had significant rainfall deficits in June as a consequence of the delayed start and slow progress of SWM, according to the appeal.

Following the guidelines in the Manual for Drought Management-2020 to the letter, Karnataka declared 223 out of 236 taluks to be afflicted by the drought. The appeal went on to state that the total crop loss recorded for the Kharif 2023 season in agriculture and horticulture was over 48 lakh hectares, with an estimated loss (cost of cultivation) of Rs 35,162 crore.

Through three Drought Relief Memorandums submitted in September–November 2023, the State Government has requested Rs 18,171.44 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). These include Rs. 4663.12 crore for crop loss input subsidy, Rs. 12577.9 crore for gratuitous relief to families whose livelihoods have been severely affected by drought, Rs. 566.78 crore for addressing the shortage of drinking water at that time, and Rs. 363.68 crore for cattle care. Reduced water availability has impacted home, agricultural, and industrial hydropower plants’ water supplies, resulting in crop failure, the request said.