Bengaluru, The number of drought-affected taluks in Karnataka has risen to 226, with nine more being added to the list on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said.
He also said the state government is preparing a final memorandum to seek drought relief from the Centre.
Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara, who also holds the Revenue portfolio, said the final memorandum detailing the drought-related losses across the state is expected to be ready within a week.
"Ground-truthing has been completed in the nine newly identified taluks, while assessment under the Trigger-1 criteria is underway in some of the remaining taluks. Those that qualify will also be taken up for ground-truthing," he said.
The total estimated loss and the amount of relief to be sought from the Centre will be determined after the memorandum is finalised, in accordance with the National Disaster Response Fund guidelines, he said.
"Last year, we sought around ₹18,000 crore in drought relief. This year, losses have occurred across almost the entire state, and 226 taluks have already been declared drought-affected. If more taluks qualify, the losses will increase further," Parameshwara said.
He further mentioned that both he and Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had urged the Centre to relax the NDRF norms for drought relief.
Though the Union Agriculture Minister had assured them the request would be examined, the state had not received any further response so far, he said.
Once the final memorandum is ready, the government will decide on sending a delegation comprising the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and others to Delhi to submit it to the Centre and seek appropriate relief, Parameshwara said.
Addressing another critical issue, the Deputy Chief Minister said the state Cabinet would meet on Thursday and discuss the High Court verdict concerning reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The Cabinet will decide whether the government should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court or seek the inclusion of the reservation law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, he said.
Further action would be taken based on the Cabinet's decision, Parameshwara added.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday struck down provisions of a 2022 state law that increased reservation for Scheduled Castes from 15 to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 to 7 per cent, holding that the enhanced quota breached the 50 per cent ceiling.
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