Karnataka will pay up to Rs 5,000 in drought relief to every eligible farmer in two instalments and will do so whether or not the Centre releases its share, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The assurance came as the government worked through complaints that the first instalment of Rs 2,500 had reached farmers in uneven amounts.
Shivakumar said the first tranche had already been released and that cases where the money had not landed were being checked. "Nobody needs to panic," he told reporters, adding that the state had committed itself to the full amount in two parts. The problems, he said, were largely to do with incorrect bank account details and adjustments against outstanding loans, and would be corrected. He rejected the suggestion that lapses by officials were behind the shortfall.
Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who holds the revenue portfolio, put the confusion down to the way the order was read. Some farmers received Rs 1,500 and others Rs 2,000, he said, because officials transferred the money on a per-acre basis rather than the flat sum per family announced in the Assembly. Staff have been told to rectify the calculation and to follow the floor of Rs 1,500 per hectare set out in national disaster relief norms.
The government has set aside Rs 1,250 crore for the first phase, expected to cover about 50 lakh farmer families, with a similar sum earmarked for the second. The remaining amounts will be released once the Finance Department clears them and may be merged with the second instalment, so that some families receive Rs 3,000 or Rs 3,500 depending on what has already been credited. A pilot exercise has begun in Yadgir district and will be extended statewide.
On the Centre's share, Parameshwara said the state had written more than two weeks ago seeking an appointment and had received no reply. The government would weigh sending an all-party delegation to Delhi once the Prime Minister's office offers a date, he said. He also said there was no shortage of funds, the required amount having already been released to the department.
Separately, Parameshwara said farmer suicides had come down from previous years, and cited a new law to regulate microfinance institutions and a six-month deferment of loan repayments as measures against harassment.
On the recent rise in milk and curd prices, he declined to defend the increase but blamed the Centre for not passing on the state's due, saying that without the funds there would be "no compulsion to increase prices". Milk output in Karnataka had fallen this year, he added, with diesel and input costs adding to the pressure on producers.
(With inputs from media reports)