Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slams K'taka CM over Rs 2,000 relief to drought-hit farmers

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Monday questioned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the Rs 2,000 compensation given to the farmers in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, the Union Minister said, "Congress government in Karnataka has taken heavy debts and is presently in a ‘pauper state’. Mr Siddaramaiah don’t you have shame for providing a mere Rs 2,000 compensation to farmers?”

"Earlier, during the former CM B.S. Yediyurappa’s rule in Karnataka, drought relief amounts of Rs 27,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 14,000 were provided to each of the affected farmers. Why are you not providing the appropriate amount of compensation to farmers?” Pralhad Joshi questioned CM Siddaramaiah.

“You (CM Siddaramaiah) have approached the court over an alleged discrepancy in the allocation of funds by the Central government. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has reached all farmers. Why have you shown such negligence by allocating only Rs 2,000 to farmers?” Minister Joshi asked.

He said, "The state government in Karnataka has failed to generate revenues. The stamp duty and taxes on properties have been increased. The corruption has also increased in the same proportion. The expenditure is shown on the guarantees which are not implemented in toto."

"Since there is no money available with the state government, fingers are pointed at the Prime Minister," he said.

The Congress government released Rs 628 crore -- Rs 2,000 per person -- as interim compensation for 33 lakh farmers in the state in January. The state has pegged crop loss damage due to drought at Rs 35,162.05 crore and sought Rs 18,171 crore from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).