Karnataka moves Supreme Court against Centre for drought relief

'Not releasing funds violates fundamental rights'

Bengaluru/New Delhi: Tired of waiting for drought relief funds, the Congress-ruled Karnataka government has dragged the Union government to the Supreme Court seeking release of the financial aid that has not come for several months.

In a writ petition, the state government said the Union government’s Ministry of Home Affairs has failed to take a final decision and release the financial assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state for drought relief, though six months have lapsed since filing of a report by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

The writ petition, under Article 32, provides the right to move the Supreme Court seeking enforcement of fundamental rights.

Karnataka has sought Rs 18,171.44 crore as drought relief. The state has also declared 223 out of 236 taluks as drought-hit.

The plea filed by advocate D L Chidananda contended the Centre’s action in not releasing financial assistance for drought as per the NDRF is ex-facie illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

“Our Constitution makes it imperative for the state to secure to all its citizens the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and where the citizens are not able to assert and secure their rights, the State must come into picture and protect and fight for the rights of the citizens,” it said.

“There is no need to beg for NDRF funds. So, the state is legally asking for its share,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, announcing the suit against the Union government.

“We can’t wait anymore. There is tremendous pressure on us from the farmers,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that his government has already released Rs 2,000 to each drought-hit farmer as interim relief.

Noting that Karnataka had repeatedly petitioned the Union government, Siddaramaiah said that meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi also did not help. “It is the responsibility of both state and Centre to respond to farmers when some disaster occurs. We have waited patiently for five long months for the Centre to respond to our requests. Finally, we were forced to approach the court of law,” he explained.

Siddaramaiah said the funds were supposed to be released by November 2023 as per the law.

“The state has lost 48 lakh hectares of agricultural and horticultural crops due to drought. Despite the inter-ministerial central team visiting the state and submitting its report, the Union government has not bothered to release the funds,” he said.

The state government claimed in the petition that there was an inordinate delay by the MHA in convening high level committee meeting to approve the quantum of relief from NDRF.

Under the manual for drought management, the central government is required to take a final decision on the assistance to the state from the NDRF within a month of the receipt of the report by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), it said.

Justifying moving court, Siddaramaiah said it is not an election issue. “Asking for justice cannot be an election issue,” he said.

According to Siddaramaiah, the state government has released Rs 1,017 crore for the management of drought so far. “To provide input subsidy, the state needs Rs 4,663 crore. Considering all this, we have sought the court to give directions for immediate release of funds,” he said.

However, as the Supreme Court is on vacation for a week, the matter is likely to come up thereafter.

It is for the first time a state government has approached the Supreme Court seeking drought relief funds.