Bengaluru, Feb 4: Alleging "step-motherly" treatment meted out to Karnataka, state congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Sunday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to allocate drought relief aid.
"I write you to address the step-motherly treatment meted out to the state of Karnataka with regards to the allocation of drought relief aid that the government of Karnataka had sought to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts," Rao said in the letter.
"The Karnataka government sought drought relief aid of Rs 2,434 crore to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts. Our government in Karnataka had declared 83 taluks in 23 districts as drought affected in the state during Kharif 2018 and an additional 14 taluks in 9 districts were also declared as severely drought affected. However, your government approved only Rs 949.49 crore aid as drought relief", he added.
Rao went on to add that the state government requires "an additional Rs 500-600 crore at a minimum estimate in central assistance to combat the drought crisis."
He requested Prime Minister Modi-led central government to "stop with the abysmal favouritism and continue to demand the release of funds that was requested."
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