Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda informed the Council on Wednesday that 38,78,525 farmers were given drought relief compensation in 2023-24, which is the highest in a year so far.

Replying to a question by BJP MLC Keshava Prasad, Gowda said that in the past, aid provided to 23,42,667 farmers was the highest. This year, Rs 4,047 crore has been spent towards the same. “The aid was provided after the officials visited the fields and conducted a crop loss survey.

The aid was directly credited to the bank accounts of farmers, who suffered a crop loss of 33%,” he said. Further, the minister informed that for the first time, the State Government is also providing gratuitous relief for loss of livelihood to 17.8 lakh farmers and Rs 531 crore has been allocated for the purpose.

Meanwhile, Gowda also highlighted that the Union Government had knowingly or unknowingly stated that farmers who avail aid for crop loss are not eligible to claim crop insurance. “I took up the matter in a meeting and highlighted that it would benefit the insurance companies and not farmers, following which it was changed. Farmers who suffer crop loss and get aid from the government can also get crop insurance,” he stressed.

As the Opposition members alleged that the government had not released any funds for farmers from the state exchequer, Gowda said Rs 1,296.42 crore was spent by the state. He also attacked the Centre for not releasing drought relief funds, stating that the Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra governments did not get any help from the Centre despite requests.

“In a first in the country, we (Karnataka government) moved the Supreme Court following which the Centre released Rs 3,454 crore. If we had not taken that step, we wouldn’t have got any relief from the central government,” the minister added.