Karnataka’s drought-affected area has expanded to 226 taluks after nine more were added to the list, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday, as the state prepares a fresh memorandum seeking financial assistance from the Centre.
Parameshwara, who also holds the Revenue portfolio, said ground-truthing had been completed in the nine newly identified taluks. Assessment under the Trigger-1 criteria is still under way in some other taluks, and those that qualify will be taken up for ground verification, he said.
The final memorandum is expected to be ready within a week. It will detail the drought-related losses across Karnataka and determine the amount of relief sought from the Centre under the guidelines of the National Disaster Response Fund, Parameshwara said.
“Last year, we sought around Rs 18,000 crore in drought relief. This year, losses have occurred across almost the entire state, and 226 taluks have already been declared drought-affected. If more taluks qualify, the losses will increase further,” he said.
The expanded declaration places additional pressure on the state administration to complete assessments, document losses and meet the requirements of the NDRF framework. The government’s memorandum will have to establish the extent of damage before the total relief request is finalised.
Parameshwara said he and Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had urged the Union government to relax the NDRF norms for drought relief. Although the Union Agriculture Minister had assured them that the request would be examined, Karnataka had not received any further response so far, he said.
The delay is significant for a state where drought declarations determine the formal response to crop losses and other impacts. The immediate administrative task is to complete assessments in the remaining areas and consolidate the findings into a single memorandum. The government has not yet announced the final estimated loss or the amount it will seek from the Centre.
Once the memorandum is ready, the state government will decide whether to send a delegation led by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to New Delhi to submit it and seek relief, Parameshwara said. The timing of that delegation will depend on the completion of the memorandum and the government’s subsequent decision.
Parameshwara also said the state Cabinet would discuss the Karnataka High Court’s recent verdict on reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at its meeting on Thursday. The Cabinet will decide whether to appeal against the judgment in the Supreme Court or seek inclusion of the reservation law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
The High Court had struck down provisions of a 2022 state law that increased reservation for Scheduled Castes from 15 to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 to 7 per cent, holding that the enhanced quota breached the 50 per cent ceiling. Further action on the verdict will follow the Cabinet’s decision.
