Declare drought, give Rs 1 cr grant to each constituency: Bommai tells K’taka govt

Noting that sowing of seeds has come down in the state, senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday urged the Karnataka government to declare an ”agriculture drought” and provide a grant of Rs 1crore to each constituency to address drinking water issues. Making a preliminary submission in favour of the adjournment notice by him and other party colleagues in the Legislative Assembly, the former CM accused the government of not taking farmer suicides seriously.

Several places, including North Karnataka, Kalyan Karnataka and interior parts of the state have not received rains, Bommai said adding it did not rain as per scheduled time. Farmers have not sown seeds due to lack of pre-monsoon showers.

If the sowing doesn’t happen at the right time, the crop duration is affected, leading to crop loss and less yield, he said. ”There are reports that sowing was supposed to be done in more than 7 lakh hectare area but it has happened only in 1.14 lakh hectare due to lack of rains. If this continues agriculture production will be less, state’s revenue will also be affected, and farmers will be in distress,” he added Referring to reports of farmer suicides, Bommai demanded that the government consider this at least as agriculture drought and take it seriously.

”They said Rs 1 crore given to the (Zilla panchayat) CEOs by the government for drinking water, it is not enough. I demand the grant of one crore to each constituency,” he said.

Hitting out at the Agriculture Minister for his statement on farmers’ suicides, the BJP leader said, ”It is not correct to say that there were so many farmers’ deaths last year and so many this year. Is it right to talk about farmer suicides through statistics?” ”A negligent, irresponsible statement is not correct,” he said, and sought to allow discussion in the House about this.