Bengaluru, July 23 (). Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara said that the state government is fully prepared to deal with the current drought situation and there is no dearth of funds for relief operations. He said that the government has made adequate financial arrangements for the provision of drinking water and to help the farmers.
Speaking to reporters after hearing public complaints at his official residence in Bengaluru on Thursday, Parameshwara said Rs 1 crore has been allocated to each MLA and Rs 5 crore to each district to ensure drinking water supply in the state. Additionally, Rs 329 crore is already available in PD accounts.
He said that drought review meetings have been completed in some parts of the state, while review meetings of Bengaluru and Mysuru revenue divisions are yet to be held. The Bengaluru division meeting will be held on July 25 under the joint leadership of the Chief Minister and his colleagues. After this Mysuru division will be reviewed. After all the meetings, a comprehensive assessment of the situation across the state will be made and further strategy will be decided, so that farmers and common people do not face any kind of problem.
Parameshwara said he has directed all District Panchayat Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to provide immediate employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) to stop migration from drought-hit areas.
He said that the state government has also sought assistance from the Centre, but no response has been received yet. According to him, the central government usually considers such proposals in August. The state government will submit its memorandum at that time, after which the assistance amount is expected to be received.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that in the districts he visited, farmers had sown after the pre-monsoon rains, but the crops dried up due to lack of rain later. Now farmers are hoping for good rains in August so that sowing can be done again.
Earlier on Wednesday, Parameshwara had said that Karnataka is facing the worst drought in the last 150 years. He said that the state has received much less rainfall than normal, due to which less than 40 percent sowing could be done and most of the sown crops have also dried up.
On the NEET question paper leak issue, he said that it is an issue related to the future of lakhs of students and it should be discussed in Parliament. He alleged that many students who had performed well in the first examination had scored low marks in the re-examination. He said that people holding responsible positions should accept moral responsibility and resign.
Parameshwara said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi really stands with the students, then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan should be removed from the post and action should be taken against the culprits.
He also criticized the alleged treatment of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the protests in Delhi, saying that the Constitution gives all citizens the right to peaceful protest and this right should be respected.
On the ongoing protests by Congress and BJP in Karnataka, he said that reaction after action in politics is natural. He said that if BJP wants to go to Raj Bhavan and complain, Congress has no objection to it.
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