Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara has directed officials to provide more local employment under the V.B. G. Ramji scheme in drought-affected areas and pay workers within a week, warning that officers would be held responsible for delays. He issued the instruction during a drought review meeting covering Koppal and Raichur districts on Thursday.
Parameshwara said wage payments should not remain pending after employment days had been generated. He warned that delayed payments could force younger members of rural households to migrate for work while leaving elderly family members behind. The deputy chief minister said officials should ensure that no one was forced to migrate because of a lack of local employment or delayed relief payments.
The direction places the timing of wage payments at the centre of the drought response. Under the arrangement described in the report, local work is to be created at a higher scale in areas facing severe drought, with payments released within seven days. Parameshwara said he would personally monitor the implementation and hold officers accountable if wages were delayed.
He also instructed officials to send proposals quickly when additional funds were required. According to his statement, funds would be released without delay once urgent proposals were submitted. The instruction indicates that district-level administration is expected to identify funding needs and move proposals rapidly rather than allow relief works or wage payments to stall at the administrative stage.
Drinking water, fodder, prevention of distress migration and adequate electricity supply were identified as the main priorities for officials. Parameshwara said ₹1 crore had already been provided to each Assembly constituency for drinking-water arrangements and that an additional ₹1 crore would be released to every constituency. The report did not specify the total number of constituencies covered or the release schedule for the additional funds.
The measures are intended to address several linked pressures created by drought: the loss of local work, delayed household income, movement of workers in search of employment, pressure on drinking-water systems and shortages of fodder. In this context, wage payments are not only an employment issue but also a time-sensitive administrative responsibility for district authorities.
Parameshwara further called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide Karnataka with drought-relief assistance at the highest possible level. He warned that the state government would approach the public if the assistance was not provided. The report did not include details of the amount sought from the Union government or the status of any related central relief decision.
The immediate next steps are the creation of additional local employment, release of pending wages within the specified period, processing of urgent funding proposals and disbursement of the additional drinking-water allocation. Officials in Koppal and Raichur are expected to implement the directions issued at the drought review meeting.
