Chief minister Jagadish Shettar said a meeting will be held on January 12 in Bangalore to discuss the drought situation in the State and immediate measures to be taken to wade through the crisis. The meeting will be attended by deputy commissioners and zilla panchayat chief executive officers.

Interacting with the farmers at the KDP auditorium at deputy commissioner’s  office on Wednesday evening, he said the meeting is being convened to discuss in detail the shortage of fodder, crop loss and others related to drought.
 The government is ready to take steps that would be beneficial and help the farmers, he stated. Special farmer-friendly schemes would be introduced, he assured.

A representative of the farmer said the government should solve the issues of sugarcane growers and fix scientific price for the cane. He put forth a demand that a high-level meeting should be held for the welfare of the sugarcane farmers and decisions taken.

Replying to the same, Shettar assured a suitable decision would be taken in this regard. The farmer leaders also stressed for a separate commission for fixing wages for agriculturalists, ration system on the model of Tamil Nadu, implementation of Neera policy and others.

Shettar gave assurance on considering the demands put forth by the farmers and take necessary steps.

District-in-charge minister V Somanna, MLC Prof K R Mallikarjunappa, former MLA A R Krishnamurthy, district in-charge secretary K Shivaram, regional commissioner M V Jayanthi, deputy commissioner N Jayaram and others participated in the meeting.