Drought Relief: 70% of Karnataka farmers are small & marginal, Krishna Byre Gowda tells Nirmala Sitharaman, seeks funds
Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi on Thursday and requested her to take an early decision on the State's memorandum seeking drought relief. He urged her to release funds from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) early, highlighting the urgency due to prevailing farmers' distress.
«Timely payment of assistance to farmers would partly relieve their distress,» Gowda told ET.
He has also asked her to consider the data the government submitted on the numbers of small and marginal farmers.
The available data with the Union Government, he added, underestimated the size of the small & marginal farmers.
The government, the minister said, had placed Aadhaar-lined alternate data sets to substantiate that 70% of farmers in Karnataka were small and marginal in nature.
The CM told the media in Mysuru, last week, that the government has sought Rs 17,900 crore towards drought relief.
The Central Drought Study Team, he said, had not given a report even after a month and the Centre had also not responded to the government's request.
