Karnataka not satised with Centre’s 3,400-crore aid
The Karnataka government appeared dissatised with the Central allotment of a little over £3,400 crore towards drought relief on Monday in the Supreme Court. Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for the State, peremptorily said it is “contesting the data” provided by the Union government.
Mr. Sibal, however, agreed to have the case listed after the summer vacations of the court in July.
The Centre’s allotment of £3,454 crore came after
Karnataka had moved the top court seeking a direction to the Union to release the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The State said the Centre had opted to remain mum while the drought situation was slipping into a “grave humanitarian crisis”.
The State had asked for the release of £18,171.44 crore under the NDRF six months ago. The total estimated loss due to crop damage in the State is £35,162.05 crore, the petition had said. The State government had submitted three drought relief memoranda under various heads.
The court had previously advised the Union to resolve the issue amicably, reminding it that the Centre and States were equal partners in a federal system of governance.
The State had said it was reeling under severe drought, a¦ecting the lives of its people.
“For the Kharif 2023 season, a total of 223 out of the 236 taluks are declared as drought-a¦ected, with 196 taluks categorised as severely a¦ected.
Karnataka as a whole recorded (-)56% decit rainfall in June, which was the third lowest in the last 122 years for the State,” the petition had submitted.