BJP seeks farm loan waiver due to drought

Accusing the Siddaramaiah government of showing apathy towards the issues faced by farmers, Opposition BJP today demanded in the Legislative Assembly that their loans be waived.
Stating that the government should be working on a war footing when the state has been witnessing successive years of drought, Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar said the administration seems to have "collapsed".
"Out of the targeted Rs 12,585 crore crop loan, both long and short term, only Rs 5,915 crore has been issued, you are not even ready to waive it off. Please do waive it off," he said.
The Karnataka government has declared 139 taluks as drought-hit and said it is taking immediate measures to provide drinking water, protection of cattle and jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

As the House met post lunch, Speaker K B Koliwad allowed the discussion on the drought situation in the state.
Initiating the debate, Shettar said the state is under a "grim" situation because of successive years of drought, with 139 taluks being declared as drought hit this year.

He said almost all crops like sugarcane, groundnut, maize, cotton, onion, paddy and most horticulture crops had been damaged.
"Government should be working on a war footing at this time to mitigate problems faced by the farmers, but it has failed," he added.
Noting that the days were not far off when there would be a "war" for water, Shettar said, "we are still in November, already the situation is grim on the availability of drinking water. One can expect what the situation would be during summer".

Though government claims that more than 7,000 Reverse Osmosis units had been set up in different parts of the state to mitigate drinking water crisis, most of them are defunct and are just like "showpiece", he said, adding that both government and its officials have become "inactive".
Earlier in the day, Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimappa in response to a question by Hirekerur MLA U B Banakar had said that government in 2016-17 has released Rs 254 crore for drought relief and Rs 1,903.93 crore under the MNREGA.
He said through a memorandum the state had requested the Centre to provide Rs 4,702.54 crore for drought relief measures, following which a team of officials have visited the affected areas.

The 10-day winter session of the state Legislature began in Belagavi today.