*No drought relief given, our demands not met — we will go to the people’s court: Opposition Leader R. Ashoka*

Thousands of crores spent on Guarantee Implementation Committee and Bharat Jodo Committee; farmers given spare change

Pragativahini News:Bengaluru: Opposition Leader R. Ashoka said that the Congress government has not fulfilled the demands the opposition placed regarding drought relief for farmers. Instead, it has washed its hands of the matter by giving just ₹2,500. Therefore, instead of going to the Centre as a delegation, “we will go to the people, to the people’s court.”

Speaking at a press conference, he said the Siddaramaiah–D.K. Shivakumar Congress government has pushed the state into three crises.

Because of the drought, farmers have been driven to the brink of death. In Malavalli, Mandya, a young man died by suicide due to microfinance harassment, and another farmer near K.M. Doddi died by suicide under the burden of debt. Drinking-water scarcity has begun in the Cauvery catchment area. There is no water for cattle; borewells have failed. Load-shedding is being imposed at will. Above all, pressure on the treasury has increased. All these issues were raised in the special discussion during the four-day session.

Despite all that persuasion, the demand was for a minimum of ₹25,000 per acre as relief. Through V.B.G. Ramji they had also urged that people migrating be stopped. None of these demands was met. Instead, the government announced ₹2,500 each for 50 lakh families and insulted farmers, he said angrily.

The relief they are giving is not even enough to get oxen shod or to put a nose-rope on them. ₹1,250 crore is being given to 50 lakh farmers in the state. But they did not take the opposition into confidence about writing to the Centre on the drought. On the Kasturirangan report they consulted the opposition, discussed it, obtained information and prepared a representation with a unanimous resolution. They did not do that work on the drought, he said.

No politics during drought

They give farmers alms, but thousands of crores are being spent on guarantee committees. ₹1,110 crore is being given to Bharat Jodo committees. These committees will be limited to Congress workers. They spend thousands of crores for Congress party people and open gruel centres. But farmers are being given spare change. Now CM D.K. Shivakumar has written to us asking that we go as a delegation to the Centre. We are ready to go to the Centre. But the government has not fulfilled our demands at all. Even funds for drinking water have not been released. If an all-party delegation is to go, they should have discussed the drought with us. Leaving that aside, they took a unilateral decision and played politics, he alleged.

There is a 36% rainfall deficit in the state and 46% in the southern interior. Yet they have washed their hands by giving just ₹2,500. I spoke in the session about the microfinance menace and demanded strict action. Even so, two suicides have taken place in Mandya district; these are government-sponsored murders. I had said: call bankers, call officials, hold a meeting and issue instructions. That was not done. If a meeting had been held, farmers’ lives could have been saved, he said.

What is the financial situation?

During the drought, ₹1 crore per constituency was announced for drinking water. It has still not been released. Instructions have been given to submit action plans. Months after the drought began, they are still only estimating. I have been saying the government is broke. Then let them say what the financial situation is. They have borrowed more than any previous Chief Minister and sent it to Rahul Gandhi. This financial year they have to borrow ₹1.5 lakh crore. The borrowing limit of 2.94% has been crossed, yet they have put on a circus and kept it within the limit. In reality it has been exceeded, he said.

Record borrowing

Former CM Siddaramaiah alone borrowed ₹4,36,803 crore. J.H. Patel borrowed ₹5,664 crore; B.S. Yediyurappa in his entire tenure ₹1,63,713 crore; H.D. Kumaraswamy ₹1,01,419 crore. Basavaraj Bommai ₹67,000 crore; D.V. Sadananda Gowda ₹24,525 crore; S.M. Krishna ₹20,576 crore; Dharam Singh ₹16,974 crore. Compared with all Chief Ministers, Siddaramaiah alone accounts for 52.33% of borrowings; all the others together account for 47%. In the last budget there was ₹8,34,677 lakh crore of debt, of which Siddaramaiah’s share is large. Under Congress, ₹5,66,970 lakh crore has been borrowed — that is 68%. During BJP tenures ₹2,62,000 lakh crore was borrowed. During the JD(S) tenure ₹5,664 crore was borrowed, he explained.

KRIDL official missing

KRIDL official Farvez wrote a letter and has gone missing. He wrote: “Even after writing letters about release of grants, they have not been released. Daily torture and shouting in the office have depressed me. My mental health is ruined. Therefore I am ending my life.” This shows the competence of the Finance Department. In addition, the Contractors’ Association has written a letter urging that steps be taken to release ₹38,000 crore. There is a pending ₹260 crore for ragi procurement for farmers. This itself is evidence that the government is bankrupt, he said.

In such a situation, with what face do Congress leaders go to the Central government? The Central government has been giving drought relief from time to time. But the state government has not given relief. After giving the guarantees, Congress minister Balakrishna has said development is not happening because of them. CM D.K. Shivakumar has pushed the financial situation into the abyss. We will go back to the farmers and listen to their hardships, he said.

It is natural for previous governments to leave behind debt. That does not mean one can blame the previous government. Because commissions are being collected from contractors, they too have been driven to suicide. An audio related to commission has come out; it must be investigated. Taking commission wherever they go has become the Congress style. In the manifesto they gave 590 promises; so far only 245 have been fulfilled, he said.

In the NICE project, irregularities of ₹1–2 lakh crore have taken place. Who started it is not the main point. One must look at how much loss the government has suffered. I protested when it began. The NICE company has not invested even one rupee. They took loans on the land given to them, built the road and are making money. Those who gave the guarantee were Congress leaders. If the new project is dropped, the government will save ₹1 lakh crore. CM D.K. Shivakumar has joined hands with NICE, he said.

The Congress manifesto said milk incentive would be increased by ₹7; that should be implemented. Leaving that aside, they should not put the burden on the people, he said.