

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to enable the early release of funds from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) which would help in timely disbursement to distressed farmers.
In his letter, the CM stated that Sitharaman is also a member of the high-level committee that decides and approves the amount of assistance from NDRF, and urged her to address the issue effectively.
Siddaramaiah also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, explaining how Karnataka got deficit rain during the Southwest monsoon, the lowest rainfall in the past 122 years.
“The state witnessed above normal temperature due to deficit rain, which severely affected standing crops in large parts of rain-fed areas,” he said. He also mentioned that 223 of 236 taluks are facing drought.
The state submitted a memorandum, seeking funds from NDRF for kharif crop loss in September 2023, after which the central team inspected the area. The government also submitted an additional memorandum as the number of drought-hit taluks has increased.
“The total loss for kharif, agriculture and horticulture crops across 48 lakh hectares is estimated to be Rs 35,162 crore. The State government has sought Rs18,171 crore from NDRF for drought relief,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the CM also pointed out that Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda also sought appointments with officers of the home and agriculture departments, which has not been given so far.
Siddaramaiah also requested Sitharaman to consider small and marginal farmers in the Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System (FRUITS) database maintained by the Karnataka government.
As per FRUITS, there are around 52.73 lakh farmers who have landholdings of less than two hectares.“Small and marginal farmers are most impacted by drought and rely on agriculture for their livelihood,” he stated. He said the state government is seeking Rs 12,577 crore as relief towards the subsistence of small and marginal farmers whose families are completely dependent on agriculture.