Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has invited BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra and Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka to join an all-party delegation to New Delhi to seek central assistance for a farmer loan waiver and drought relief, as rainfall deficits have damaged crops across several districts.
Shivakumar said the delegation should press the Union government for financial assistance, drought relief and support for waiving farmers’ loans. His invitation came after Vijayendra, who is leading a padayatra in Ballari, demanded a waiver of farm loans of up to ₹5 lakh. Ashoka has also supported the demand.
“B.Y. Vijayendra, R. Ashoka and other leaders should come to Delhi with the all-party delegation. They should put pressure on the Centre to provide grants, support the loan waiver and release drought relief,” Shivakumar said, according to Prajavani.
The deputy chief minister said the Union government had responsibility for helping address the issue because banks are under central control. He called on BJP MPs and legislators from Karnataka to press the Centre to waive the loans of farmers in the state.
Karnataka is also preparing to hold a three-day special legislative session to discuss the drought situation and farmers’ problems. Shivakumar said the state Cabinet had discussed the drought at its meeting on Thursday. The proposed session is expected to consider the situation in affected constituencies and the assistance required by residents.
The state government will decide within the next 15 days whether to include more taluks in the drought-affected list, Shivakumar said during a visit to farmers’ fields in the district. He said Karnataka had recorded a rainfall deficit of between 42% and 43%, with crop damage reported in Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri and Bagalkot districts.
The next lists of drought-affected taluks will be prepared in two further phases based on reports from district ministers and government officials, and in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines, he said. Areas served by the command zones of reservoirs were excluded from the assessment, while crop conditions in many other locations remained poor, according to the chief minister’s remarks.
Shivakumar also said the special session would discuss Karnataka’s objections to the draft notification issued on the basis of the Kasturirangan committee report, which proposes declaring parts of the Western Ghats as an ecologically sensitive area. He said the notification could affect several villages and that the state would take a decision after considering Karnataka’s interests.
The government’s proposed delegation, the planned special session and the possible expansion of the drought-affected taluk list are the next official steps outlined by the state in response to the rainfall deficit and crop losses.
