Karnataka govt drags Union government to Supreme Court over drought relief fund

Bengaluru: Tired of waiting for drought relief funds, the Congress-ruled Karnataka government has dragged the Union government to the Supreme Court seeking release of the financial aid that has not come for several months.

The state government on Saturday filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. The government has sought financial aid under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Article 32 provides the right to move SC seeking enforcement of fundamental rights.

"There is no need to beg for NDRF funds. So, the state is legally asking for its share," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, announcing the suit against the federal government.

Karnataka has sought Rs 18,171.44 crore as drought relief. Karnataka has also declared 223 out of 236 taluks as drought-hit. "We can't wait anymore. There's tremendous pressure on us from the farmers," Siddaramaiah said, adding that his government has already released Rs 2,000 to each drought-hit farmer as an interim relief.

Noting that Karnataka had repeatedly petitioned the Union government, Siddaramaiah said that meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi also did not help. "It's the responsibility of both state and Centre to respond to farmers when some disaster occurs. We have waited patiently for five long months for the Centre to respond to our requests. Finally, we were forced to approach the court of law," he explained.

Siddaramaiah said the funds were supposed to be released by November 2023 as per the law. "The state has lost 48 lakh hectares of agricultural and horticultural crops due to drought. Despite the inter-ministerial central team visiting the state and submitting its report, the union government has not bothered to release the funds," he said.

Justifying moving the court, Siddaramaiah said that it is not an election issue. "Asking for justice cannot be an election issue," he said.

According to Siddaramaiah, the state government has released a total of Rs 1,017 crore for the management of drought so far. "To provide input subsidy, the state needs Rs 4,663 crore. Considering all this, we have sought the court to give directions for immediate release of funds," he said.

However, as the Supreme Court is on vacation for a week, the matter is likely to come up thereafter.