Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has sought Rs 22,400.58 crore in drought relief from the Union government for crop losses across 226 taluks, urging the Prime Minister and two Union ministers to expedite the appraisal and release of assistance to affected farmers.
In separate letters dated November 2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Parameshwara sought urgent appointments to present Karnataka’s revised memorandum and explain the extent of the losses. He also urged the Centre to approve and release the admissible financial assistance at the earliest.
According to the memorandum cited in the state government’s communication, crops spread across 57.93 lakh hectares have suffered damage. The estimated economic losses have been placed at Rs 62,481.88 crore. Karnataka’s cumulative drought-relief requirement has been revised upwards from Rs 20,585.73 crore to Rs 22,400.58 crore following changes to assistance norms under the State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Fund for 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The revised norms, notified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on October 26, increased Karnataka’s crop-loss input subsidy requirement from Rs 6,128.70 crore to Rs 7,943.55 crore. The increase of Rs 1,814.85 crore accounts for the rise in the state’s overall relief demand, while the other components of its earlier memorandum remain unchanged, according to the report.
The revised assistance rates are Rs 11,000 per hectare for rainfed crops, Rs 22,000 for irrigated crops and Rs 30,000 for perennial crops. Parameshwara, who also holds the Revenue portfolio, said the enhanced rates still did not reflect farmers’ actual cultivation expenses. He said the framework should account for spending on seeds, fertilisers, agricultural labour, irrigation and other essential inputs.
“Our farmers cannot be expected to confront the economic realities of 2026 with a relief framework that does not adequately recognise the true cost of cultivation and the magnitude of their losses,” Parameshwara said in the letters, according to a press release.
The Deputy Chief Minister also questioned the continued reliance on the Agriculture Census 2015-16 to determine eligibility for disaster assistance. He said decade-old landholding data might not represent current agricultural conditions and could exclude eligible small and marginal farmers from relief.
Karnataka has asked the Centre to consider its FRUITS, or Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System, database for identifying beneficiaries. The state said the system contains updated and verified information that could help improve the targeting of assistance.
Parameshwara called for a wider review of the disaster-relief framework, including more realistic assessments of cultivation costs, updated land records and assistance linked to the increasing intensity of climate-related disasters. He said coordination between the Union and state governments was necessary to ensure timely support for farmers affected by drought.
The state government’s immediate requests are an early appraisal of its revised claim, approval of the admissible amount and release of financial assistance. The Centre’s response to Karnataka’s memorandum and its request for meetings will determine the next stage of the relief process.
