BENGALURU: Suggestions to amend the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) norms for declaring drought, setting up fodder banks, providing assistance to farmers and increasing the number of mandays under the VBG RAM G scheme were among the major points of discussion on the third day of the special session.
Speaking on the prevailing drought situation, Congress MLC K Shivakumar said the NDRF norms used to declare a taluk drought-hit should be amended every two to three years. He said the state should urge the Centre to revise the norms, considering changes in crop and weather patterns. He also asked that the mandays under the VBG RAM G scheme be doubled for the labourers who depend on farming for jobs.
He highlighted that 56 gram panchayats were already being supplied water through tankers. He also pointed out that of the 3,817 lakes in the state, 161 had completely dried up, while 1,555 had only 30% of their water remaining.
MLC Naveen Kottige said farmers of all categories were in distress, irrespective of their landholdings. He suggested considering a temporary package for landless labourers and said infrastructure works could be taken up during the drought.
JD(S) MLC S L Bhoje Gowda suggested that the state government provide fresh loans to farmers and waive interest on existing loans for one year.
He also said more than one crore litres of milk were produced in Karnataka and, with the cost of milk production increasing, the government should consider increasing the price of milk.
BJP MLC P H Poojar said the shortage of fodder was forcing farmers to sell cattle to slaughterhouses and migrate to places such as Mangaluru and Mumbai in search of work. “Once they are sold, it is not easy to buy them back,” he said.
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar Khandre said Karnataka was facing a shortage of funds for gram panchayats as the Centre had not released Rs 2,186.20 crore due under the 15th Finance Commission.
He said there was no shortage of funds for supplying drinking water in rural areas, with Rs 306 crore available for the purpose.
Khandre said 799 villages currently faced drinking water shortages and arrangements were being made through private borewells, open wells and tankers. He criticised the Centre’s 2020 drought management guidelines, calling the conditions for declaring drought-hit taluks unscientific.
Khandre said the state had sought changes to the guidelines and urged the Centre to retain a 90:10 funding ratio under VBG RAM G instead of the proposed 60:40 ratio.
BJP demands white paper on state’s finances BJP members demanded that the finance department’s statement on the financial position of the state be taken up for discussion during the special session.