Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara has said interim farmer relief payments will be deposited into eligible beneficiaries’ bank accounts from Monday, November 2, while rejecting Opposition leader R. Ashoka’s criticism that the government has imposed 17 conditions for disbursal.
Parameshwara said the first transfer would be only an interim instalment and would not represent the full compensation due to farmers. He added that the next instalment would be distributed after the Union government releases funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The Deputy Chief Minister said the 17 points referred to in the government order were not compulsory conditions that every farmer had to fulfil. According to his statement, the provisions relate to beneficiary eligibility, document verification and responsibilities within the administrative system.
He said the purpose of the process was to ensure that relief reached genuine beneficiaries, prevent duplicate payments for the same case and protect the use of public funds. The statement followed criticism from Ashoka, who had questioned the conditions attached to the relief process.
Parameshwara also said farmers would not have to submit fresh applications or move from one government office to another to receive the assistance. He said the government already had the necessary information and would use it to verify and process payments. Where discrepancies appeared in records, officials would correct them through the prescribed verification procedure, he added.
The clarification places the administrative process, rather than a new application system, at the centre of the relief rollout. For farmers awaiting assistance, the practical issue will be whether existing government records are sufficient to establish eligibility and whether discrepancies can be resolved without delaying payments.
Parameshwara said the Opposition should distinguish between the rules prescribed by the Union government and the procedures adopted by the state to implement them. He appealed to Opposition leaders to set aside political differences and cooperate with the state government in seeking the early release of drought-relief funds from the Centre.
He further clarified that the two-hectare limit referred to the maximum area that may be considered while calculating crop-loss compensation. It did not mean that farmers owning more than two hectares would automatically be ineligible for relief, according to the statement.
The state’s immediate next step is to begin depositing the first interim instalment into the accounts of eligible farmers on November 2. Further payments are linked to the release of NDRF funds, while record verification and correction will continue through the designated administrative process.
