Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Minor Irrigation Minister N S Bose Raju at a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday initiated the payment of an additional input subsidy of Rs 1,033.6 crore to 14.24 lakh farmers who suffered crop losses due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon this year.
Farmers have already received Rs 1,218.03 crore as per State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) norms, the government said.
As a top-up to help flood-hit farmers, the government hiked input subsidy from Rs 8,500 to Rs 17,000 per hectare for rain-dependent crops, Rs 17,000 to Rs 25,500 for irrigated crops and Rs 22,500 to Rs 31,000 for multi-year crops.
Siddaramaiah released Rs 1,033.60 crore to deputy commissioners, who will trigger payments to farmers via direct benefit transfer (DBT). This will benefit 14.24 lakh farmers in 27 districts.
“During monsoon, sowing was done on 82.56 lakh hectares, which was a record. However, due to heavy rainfall between June and September, there were crop losses on 14.58 lakh hectares. The crop loss is estimated at Rs 10,748 crore,” Siddaramaiah said.
Crops lost include tur dal (5.36 lakh hectares), green gram (2.53 lakh hectares), cotton (2.68 lakh hectares) and maize (1.21 lakh hectares), Siddaramaiah said.
Meeting with Prime Minister
Siddaramaiah said he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 17 and sought financial aid — Rs 614.9 crore towards input subsidy and Rs 1,521.67 crore for recovery and reconstruction of damaged assets.
“An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) has been formed. We expect the IMCT to visit the State soon. The government is hopeful that the State will soon get its due in a legal and just manner,” Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said.
“When the State faced drought in 2023-24, the government submitted a memorandum and we met the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister. When we did not get any relief, the Karnataka government, for the first time in the country, went to the Supreme Court to wage a legal fight,” Gowda said. “We hope such a situation won’t arise this time.”