Bengaluru, Nov 5 : The Karnataka government has decided to provide drought relief of up to Rs 5,000 to each eligible drought-affected farmer in the state, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced on Thursday. The first instalment of Rs 2,500 is being transferred directly into farmers’ bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. The remaining Rs 2,500 will be released shortly.
Shivakumar announced the financial assistance while releasing the first instalment of Rs 17.43 crore to 1,06,462 farmers in Yadgir district at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
He said the government was committed to supporting farmers who had suffered heavy crop losses due to the severe drought across Karnataka.
“The first instalment of Rs 2,500 is being transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts. The remaining amount of Rs 2,500 will be released in the coming days,” Shivakumar said, according to a Chief Minister’s Office release.
Drought Relief Payments for 15 More Districts
The state government is preparing payment files for farmers in 15 additional districts. These include Uttara Kannada, Kolar, Koppal, Chamarajanagar, Dharwad, Ballari, Bidar, Bengaluru Urban, Haveri, Bengaluru South, Davanagere, Dakshina Kannada, Kalaburagi, Mandya and Vijayanagara.
The first instalment will be distributed to all eligible farmers in these districts as soon as the payment process is completed.
Shivakumar also said that the second instalment of Rs 2,500 would be released within the next 15 to 20 days.
He acknowledged that the financial assistance might not fully compensate farmers for their losses but said the government would provide all possible support.
Pending Crop Compensation Awaiting Central Funds
The Deputy Chief Minister said the state government would release the pending approved input subsidy under revised norms in a single instalment after receiving the required funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
He said Karnataka had experienced an extremely severe drought, with 226 taluks officially declared drought-affected after assessments conducted under Central government guidelines.
According to a joint crop damage assessment report, agricultural crops were damaged across 57.93 lakh hectares in the state.
Shivakumar said three Central government teams had visited drought-affected regions to assess the situation.
Karnataka Estimates Rs 62,000 Crore in Drought Losses
The state government has estimated total losses of around Rs 62,000 crore due to the drought and submitted a detailed report to the Central government.
Shivakumar said the state had already announced Rs 2,000 in crop-loss compensation for farmers in the Legislative Assembly and had requested Rs 22,400 crore in financial assistance from the Centre.
He added that the state government had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the drought situation.
The government has also proposed taking an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister and request additional financial assistance for affected farmers.
Drought Affects Agriculture and Electricity Supply
Shivakumar said nearly 57 lakh hectares of agricultural land had suffered crop damage due to the drought.
He pointed out that Karnataka has one of the largest dryland farming areas in the country, after Rajasthan, making farmers particularly vulnerable to rainfall shortages.
The drought has also created difficulties in maintaining drinking water supplies across the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the government was spending around Rs 20,000 crore annually on providing free electricity to farmers. However, increased electricity consumption during the drought had pushed the estimated expenditure to nearly Rs 30,000 crore.
Despite the additional spending, the state was facing challenges in ensuring an adequate electricity supply.
Yadgir Farmers Thank Government for Relief
During the programme, Shivakumar interacted with farmers from Yadgir district through a video conference.
The farmers thanked the Chief Minister for releasing the first instalment of drought relief funds to the district.
The state government said it would continue the financial assistance process and ensure that eligible farmers across drought-affected districts receive the announced relief.
