JOIN USDespite Karnataka’s request of a whopping Rs 5,953 crore to take up relief works in the drought hit areas, the Centre is likely to release a mere Rs 300 crore to the state.
An inter-ministerial committee meeting held here on Wednesday, is learnt to have recommended granting Rs 300 crore (including Rs 13 crore for drinking water purpose) to Karnataka.
The panel made the recommendation after studying the report submitted by the drought study team constituted by Union Ministry of Agriculture, which visited the calamity hit areas recently.
The recommendation will be placed before a high-level panel comprising of Home, Agriculture and Finance ministers as well as Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman.
The panel will meet in a day or two to take a final decision and the State may get money by end of this week, sources said.
The Karnataka Government had earlier requested the Centre to release Rs 5,953 crore to take up the relief works in 123 drought-hit taluks.
The reason for a reduced grant to the state, according to sources, is because the state has unspent funds of Rs400 crores under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as well as grants sanctioned for other Central schemes.
Noting that Karnataka’s request for funds came much later, sources said that when the study team visited the drought-hit areas they couldn’t find significant drought in the southern Karnataka due to rain.
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 588 crore to Maharashtra as a relief measure in the 15 drought-hit districts of the state. Though the State sought Rs 2,700 crore a central committee visited a few of the affected areas and recommended an assistance of Rs1083 crore. However, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 588 crore.