State government of Karnataka might declare drought this rabi season

BENGALURU: Lakhs of farmers have been left in the lurch as they are not eligible to get any relief which are related to the technical criterion that has been mentioned in the guidelines of the centre. But, the government is all set to declare that there might be a drought this rabi season.

According to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) the guidelines that have been laid down by the Centre to grant input subsidy as the monetary relief for the loss of crops, only those who have sown the seeds are considered to be eligible for the assistance. Unfortunately, as the northeast monsoon has failed in the state of Karnataka at the beginning of the rabi season, about 17 lakh farmers were unable to show their seeds.

In the month of November, the rain was expected to be around 40mm, but the state had only received 14mm. The current situation has gone down the slope with only 3 mm of rainfall being reported till mid-December.

The agriculture director BY Srinivas has said that, “It’s a precarious situation, but the guidelines don’t allow granting of input subsidy to those who have not sown. Technically, the question of crop loss would arise only when it is sown.”

The revenue minister RV Deshpande who is the head of the cabinet sub-committee met on the 12th of December and had recommended the government to declare a drought in the rabi season.

“Usually, drought for rabi season is declared during February or March-end. But this time, the situation is so grave that the government wants to declare it early. In all likelihood, drought will be declared by this month-end,” said GS Srinivasa Reddy, the director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.