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Kharge Writes to PM Modi, Urges ₹3,705 Crore Aid for Drought-Hit Karnataka
Kharge said Karnataka’s drought has caused crop losses and distress for lakhs of farming families, and sought Rs 3,705.30 crore in central aid.
On Saturday, Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Rs 3,705.30 crore in urgent central assistance for Karnataka's severe drought.
Facing one of its gravest droughts in recent years, Karnataka has declared 177 taluks drought-affected, with ground-truthing underway in additional areas affecting more than 31 lakh farming families.
Kharge urged the Union to calculate input subsidies using updated Bhoomi land records instead of the 2015-16 Agriculture Census, while requesting a Central team assess damage in Kalyana Karnataka.
Seeking broader intervention, the Congress leader also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding low reservoir levels in the Cauvery, requesting enhanced support for drinking water and power security.
Kharge stressed that "drought relief is a humanitarian imperative and must rise above political differences," urging assistance be released "on merit and with utmost urgency, uninfluenced by political considerations.
In response to the drought crisis in Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Modi, requesting central assistance of ₹3,705.30 crore. Kharge said that drought relief is a humanitarian need and should transcend political differences between the central and state governments.