The Bengaluru Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah, blamed the Centre for not releasing funds for providing relief, as per the norms to the State.
Siddaramaiah, is putting his efforts, to tackle the worst ever drought in the state. The State Government, however, ensured that there is no scarcity of drinking water anywhere, and the district administrators are provided enough funds, to face any situation.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, addressing the reporters, said around 1,575 villages are being supplied with water in tankers. The private borewells have been requested by the District officials, to draw and provide water to people in need, wherein the borewell owners would be paid on a monthly basis for renting their water sources. The Minister had a video conference with the CEOs of zilla panchayats (ZPs) and deputy commissioners of 30 districts. He further said, that the DCs and ZP CEOs would be held responsible if water is not provided to any village or town.
The Minister stated that, every task force, functioning under the local legislator, has been given Rs 1.9 crore each, while the ZP CEOs, have been given Rs 1 crore each. Besides this, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, was given Rs 95 crore, and for the financial year 2017-2018, Rs 60 crore was allocated to the revenue department.
Mr Siddaramaiah, on reacting to reports in a section of media, over the fodder scam in the State, the Minister said that the reports were false and baseless. The government has opened 384 fodder banks and 84 cattle shelters, besides distributing 7 lakh fodder mini-kits among farmers, where the stocks last upto 20 weeks. The Government, under the job guarantee scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), spent Rs 3316 crore, during 2016-17, and released another Rs 10 crore for 2017-18. According to the norms, the Centre had to release more than Rs 4702 crore, but has released only Rs 1685 crore, said the Minister.
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