[ad_1]
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that he has no objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending financial aid of 250 million U.S. dollars to Kenya’s agricultural sector, but questioned the Centre’s continuing silence to Karnataka’s pending request for compensating the loss of its farmers due to drought.
“We don’t have any opposition to @narendramodi extending help to other countries; he is merely upholding a legacy of India’s aid diplomacy & soft power diplomacy, a practice that dates back to the pre-independence era and has continued ever since. Our question, however, is this: Why does Modi not exhibit the same level of concern for our farmers, who have suffered crop losses due to drought?” Mr. Siddaramaiah said on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
“Why do the Kannadigas not deserve a response from the Union BJP government to their letter seeking compensation? This silence raises concerns about the equal treatment of all States and their citizens in the face of adversity,” he said.
“Given that the Central government has not yet convened a preliminary meeting to provide relief to the farmers, emergency measures have been taken by the State by releasing crop relief fund of up to ₹2,000 each to eligible farmers in the first phase,” he said.
Even though three Ministers from the State went to Delhi, there has been no positive response, he lamented.
“A letter has been written to the Centre requesting financial assistance of ₹18,171 crore for relief. Even if the Centre returns our share of tax money, it would help alleviate the suffering of our farmers. There has been crop loss in an area of 48.19 lakh hectares. We had asked the Centre for crop loss compensation of ₹4,663 crore. We have also appealed to the Central Ministers. I had written requesting a direct meeting with the Union Ministers of Agriculture and Housing, but they have not given us time yet,” Mr. Siddaramaiah tweeted.
