<div align="justify">With Karnataka facing severe drought for the past three consecutive years, the state government spent only Rs 1,203.45 crore from its kitty to mitigate the situation during this period while the Centre released Rs 4,898.15 crore.<br /><br />From 2014-15 to 2016-17, the Karnataka government sought Rs 15,929.17 crore from the Centre to tackle drought and compensate farmers for crop loss due to hailstorm in some parts of the state. The Centre sanctioned Rs 4,898.15 crore (Rs 4,326.91 crore under National Disaster Response Fund and Rs 571.24 crore under State Disaster Relief Fund) while Karnataka released Rs 1,203.45 crore during the same period.<br /><br />“Despite farmers in Karnataka witnessing severe crop loss mostly due to drought and some due to hailstorms, why did the state government not make extra budgetary allocation to address the situation?” questioned Union Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar.<br /><br />Releasing a document on the status of central funds released to Karnataka for the past three years, the minister said that despite the Karnataka government declaring drought in 139 taluks in 2016-17, the state government spent only Rs 518 crore while the Centre sanctioned Rs 2,627.50 crore, he said.<br /><br />Claiming that these statistics are based on information submitted by the state government to the Union Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture, the minister said this shows the lack of seriousness on the part of the state government to tackle the natural calamity.<br /><br />Promising to give more funds to Karnataka to help drought-hit farmers from the Centre, the minister said the state government should also spend money from its budget.<br /><br />Claiming that the Karnataka government has not fully spent the money allocated to it, the minister said the state government should release the funds to beneficiary farmers’ accounts and submit the utilisation certificate at the earliest.<br /><br />With Karnataka witnessing below average rainfall this year too, the state government must prepare for facing the situation and extend help to farmers, he urged.<br /></div>
<div align="justify">With Karnataka facing severe drought for the past three consecutive years, the state government spent only Rs 1,203.45 crore from its kitty to mitigate the situation during this period while the Centre released Rs 4,898.15 crore.<br /><br />From 2014-15 to 2016-17, the Karnataka government sought Rs 15,929.17 crore from the Centre to tackle drought and compensate farmers for crop loss due to hailstorm in some parts of the state. The Centre sanctioned Rs 4,898.15 crore (Rs 4,326.91 crore under National Disaster Response Fund and Rs 571.24 crore under State Disaster Relief Fund) while Karnataka released Rs 1,203.45 crore during the same period.<br /><br />“Despite farmers in Karnataka witnessing severe crop loss mostly due to drought and some due to hailstorms, why did the state government not make extra budgetary allocation to address the situation?” questioned Union Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar.<br /><br />Releasing a document on the status of central funds released to Karnataka for the past three years, the minister said that despite the Karnataka government declaring drought in 139 taluks in 2016-17, the state government spent only Rs 518 crore while the Centre sanctioned Rs 2,627.50 crore, he said.<br /><br />Claiming that these statistics are based on information submitted by the state government to the Union Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture, the minister said this shows the lack of seriousness on the part of the state government to tackle the natural calamity.<br /><br />Promising to give more funds to Karnataka to help drought-hit farmers from the Centre, the minister said the state government should also spend money from its budget.<br /><br />Claiming that the Karnataka government has not fully spent the money allocated to it, the minister said the state government should release the funds to beneficiary farmers’ accounts and submit the utilisation certificate at the earliest.<br /><br />With Karnataka witnessing below average rainfall this year too, the state government must prepare for facing the situation and extend help to farmers, he urged.<br /></div>
