Ahead of Modi’s Karnataka rally, Congress poses drought funds question

The Congress on Saturday (April 20) upped the ante against the ruling BJP at the Centre by asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not releasing Rs 18,000 crore for Karnataka’s drought-hit farmers. The questions came ahead of Modi’s election rally in Chikkaballapur.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the Centre of meting out “unfair” treatment to Karnataka. “Today’s questions for PM Modi as he heads to Chikkaballapur: Why is the PM not releasing Rs. 18,000 crores for Karnataka’s drought hit farmers? Why is the PM not paying MGNREGS workers their wages? Why has the Modi Sarkar been so unfair to Karnataka in sharing revenues?” he posted on X.

Drought funds

Elaborating on what he called “jumla details”, Ramesh pointed out that Karnataka was reeling under an acute drought situation, with 223 out of 236 taluks facing drought conditions and 196 taluks being categorised as severely hit.

It was way back in September 2023 that the Karnataka government had approached the Modi government to release funds of Rs 18,172 crore for drought relief, he said.

“Modi-made delay”

Ramesh pointed out that the rules of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, state that the Centre must take a final decision on the release of funds within a month of receiving the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) report.

“For Karnataka, this period expired in December 2023. The Finance Minister has since accepted that the Centre delayed funds but her latest excuse is that the Centre’s hands are tied since the Model Code of Conduct came into force last month,” Ramesh said.

“Needless to say, this Modi-made delay has had severe repercussions for the people of Karnataka. Why is PM Modi so indifferent to their needs?” he posted.

MGNREGS workdays

To help alleviate the drought-related stress on the rural economy, the Karnataka government has sought to increase the number of workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from 100 to 150, he said.

“There is a provision in the scheme to do so during periods of drought. However, the Modi Sarkar has not only failed to approve the extension of the scheme, it has also failed to release Rs. 1600 crores towards the payment of wages to those working under MGNREGS,” Ramesh wrote.

2008 vs 2024

When is the Modi government going to pay Karnataka’s MGNREGS workers their wages, he asked. “In 2008, when PM Modi was still Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had kicked up a storm with his remarks on fiscal injustice and insufficient devolution of taxes from the centre. However, now that the BJP is in power, the shoe is on the other foot,” he alleged.

Noting that Karnataka has incurred a loss of Rs 1.87 lakh crores during the five years of the 15th Finance Commission, Ramesh said in February, the fifth State Finance Commission also noted that Karnataka has suffered a significant reduction in its share of central taxes and duties from 4.7 per cent to 3.6 per cent.

“This reduction in Karnataka’s share comes amidst the Modi Sarkar’s introduction of a cess raj, intentionally designed to avoid sharing revenues with States. Is the PM's change of heart on this issue not entirely attributable to his desire for centralising power?” Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his “silence” on these issues.

(With agency inputs)