Date:09/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/09/stories/2007020913120400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Nothing being done to combat drought'

Staff Reporter

Government accused of passing the buck to Centre

Ministers urged to tour drought-hit areas

Bangalore: The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday criticised the Government for not making full use of Rs. 785 crore allocated for drought relief measures and Rs. 226 crore provided for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Participating in a debate in the Legislative Assembly on the drought situation in 128 of the State's 175 taluks, Mr. Siddaramaiah wanted to know what prevented the Government from spending the funds released by the Union Government on these two important programmes. He accused the coalition partners of trying to pass the buck to the Centre instead of making use of the money to help the needy. There was an urgent need to arrange for the supply of drinking water and fodder in the drought-hit areas, he said.

Though the Government should have started drought relief measures on a war footing, none of the Ministers had toured the affected districts.

He said ration cards had not been issued to all eligible families living below the poverty line. There was a list of 65 lakh families who had applied for the ration cards. The Bhagyalakshmi scheme, under which Rs. 10,000 is deposited in the name of a girl child in a family living below the poverty line, was not being implemented properly, he said.