Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday took strong exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union ministers allegedly not giving time to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some of his cabinet colleagues to meet to discuss the drought situation in the state.
The state cabinet, which met here, expressed its displeasure over the Centre allegedly not releasing “even a paisa” for drought relief.
It demanded that the Centre increase the “man days” under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme so that the drought-hit people have some source of livelihood.
Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said that the prime minister did not give an appointment to the chief minister, and that the central ministers did the same to Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge though they camped in Delhi for four-five days to meet them recently.
“Our request, explaining about the crop loss due to drought and the state’s expectation as per the NDRF norms, is pending before them. The central team had appreciated the detail given by the state government. Yet, we have not received a ‘single naya paisa’ for drought relief. The cabinet today took strong exception to it,” Patil said.
“We have requested the Centre to increase the number of man days under the MNREGS to give jobs to people,” the minister said.
Speaking about other discussions of the cabinet meeting, he said it has decided to hold a meeting regarding drought relief works. The deputy commissioners of the districts have a fund of Rs 750 crore to Rs 800 crore, which should be utilised for providing drinking water and fodder for cattle, the minister said.
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