Why haven’t you created permanent disaster fund, R Ashoka questions CM Siddaramaiah

Belagavi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly R Ashoka on Tuesday charged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with failing to keep his word and accused him of ‘betraying’ farmers.

Initiating a debate on problems plaguing North Karnataka in the Assembly, Ashoka cited a tweet by Siddaramaiah on May 8, 2020 – the CM was the LoP then – wherein he had called for the creation of a revolving fund of Rs 5,000 crore so the government could disburse money to farmers in times when they were fetching rates lower than the fixed price for their crops.

“It’s not just a tweet. The Congress manifesto for the 2023 elections also contains a promise to create a permanent disaster management fund with an initial corpus of Rs 5,000 crore. Has it been created? Losses in North Karnataka are higher than in the Old Mysore region. Why have you not given Rs 5,000 crore,” asked Ashoka.

Acknowledging that it was the Centre that finalised the price of sugarcane, Ashoka was, however, quick to point out that the Supreme Court had mandated that the state governments must pay the additional amount.

Expressing dismay over the suicide of 2,422 farmers in the past two-and-a-half years, Ashoka added, “Of these, 32 were sugarcane farmers. Farmer suicides in Karnataka account for 22.5% of the country’s aggregate, while the number is 5.9% in Tamil Nadu, and 8% in Andhra Pradesh. The government has still not come out of the guarantee delusion. With the guarantee schemes drying up the treasury, the government deferred relief for drought. (Revenue Minister) Krishna Byre Gowda is very intelligent. They postponed declaring a drought by two months.”

None too pleased with Ashoka’s remarks, Krishna Byre Gowda said that the Congress had provided Rs 4,300 crore in compensation to 38 lakh farmers who suffered losses owing to the drought in 2023. “This was the largest sum paid in compensation in the state’s history,” said the minister.

Reminding the BJP that the Congress government had filed a case against the Centre in the apex court, Krishna Byre Gowda added, “They should have told the Supreme Court that we did not declare the drought on time. We informed the apex court that it was the first time a state government had knocked on its doors since funds had not been given. We fought, secured funds, and distributed it to the farmers.”

The minister’s remarks triggered a heated exchange between members of the Congress and the BJP, prompting a brief adjournment.

When the session resumed, Siddaramaiah said, “When the LoP is speaking, he must not be interrupted. (Others) must speak only once he has yielded. The opposition must also refrain from relaying false information and base their criticism on facts.”