HLC meeting on Karnataka drought relief postponed for tomorrow

New Delhi: A meeting of the high-level committee (HLC), headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to take a call on the quantum of drought relief to be released to Karnataka for the 2016 kharif crop losses, has been rescheduled for Thursday.

The state government has sought a central relief of Rs 4,702 crore for loss of 2016 kharif crops because of severe drought in the state, but a central technical committee has recommended release of only Rs 1,782.44 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund.

“The HLC meeting was scheduled for today. It has been postponed for tomorrow evening,” an official source said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh are among the other members of the HLC.

“The technical committee has recommended Rs 1,782.44 crore drought relief to Karnataka. The committee’s recommendation will further be deliberated in the HLC meeting,” the source added.

The relief fund recommended by the sub-committee is 38 percent lower than the amount sought by the state government.

Last week, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to release the entire relief amount considering farmers’ distress in the wake of the worst drought in the last 40 years.

“The state has already spent Rs 400 crore in drought-hit areas. If the Centre does not give the entire relief amount, it will be a burden on exchequer,” Siddaramaiah had told reporters after meeting the PM.

Karnataka has been facing severe drought for the past six years. The drought in 2016-17 was the worst in 40 years. The state has declared 139 taluks out of 176 drought-hit.