Rubbing the salt to the wound, Central government today released a whopping sum of Rs 723.23 crore as drought relief to Karnataka. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, chaired a meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) at New Delhi which finalised the Central Assistance to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and floods.
As for Karnataka is concerned, this the second installment of fund being released to take up drought relief works. In mid January 2016 , the union government had released Rs 1,540.20 crore to take up drought relief works in the state. The centre sanctioned Rs 1,388.67 crore towards input subsidy for agricultural crops, Rs 1336. 64 crore for horticultural crops, Rs 2.92 crore for animal husbandry and Rs 11.97 crore for taking up drinking -water related works.
The decision to release Rs 732 crore came from the centre, at a time when the opposition YSR Congress is planning drought agitation across the state. The party gearing up itself to stage dharnas at all collectorates and the Opposition leader Jaganmohan Reddy is going to lead the movement.
The Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley, Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and senior officers of the Ministries of Home, Finance and Agriculture attended today’s HLC meeting.
Among other state, which were lucky to get central assistance are Puducherry (Rs 35. 14 crore) and Arunachal Pradesh ( Rs84.33 crore). The Central Assistance of Rs 84.33 crore to Arunachal Pradesh includes Rs.18.00 crore under National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP).
The relief released to Andhra Pradesh no way comparable to the amount released to Karnataka, even though TDP, an ally of NDA government, is in power in state.
According to prof Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, the senior spokesperson from YSRCP, this shows utter failure on the part of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. It is clear that the centre had no concerns for the people of Andhra Pradesh, he said.
Even though chief minister made a request for Rs 2444 crore, what the centre released was measly Rs 433 crore. Was it the failure of chief minister Naidu in getting more funds to the AP or centre wants to punish the people of Andhra Pradesh for voting Telugu Desam to power, he wondered.
