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The way Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu has brushed aside the drought situation in different parts of the country indicates how irresponsible politicians could be, if power goes into their heads.
“Drought is not in our hands. If the God shows mercy, there will be rains. Otherwise, we have to bear with the drought. How can anybody blame the government?” was the statement made by Venkaiah, reacting to the observations made by the Supreme Court on the indifferent attitude of the Centre in mitigating the drought situation.
The court also found fault with the Centre for releasing paltry amounts to the States towards drought relief.
However, Venkaiah seems to be unmoved. Trying to throw blame on the States, he says the Centre would react only on the reports of the State governments on drought situation.
“They have to send drought reports to the Centre and the latter would send its teams to assess the situation. Based on the recommendations of the Central teams, the Centre would release funds,” he said, defending the Modi government.
This is nothing but an irresponsible statement from Venkaiah. We have been watching how the Centre would react to the State government’s requests.
First, the State finance department sends a detailed report on drought, along with the documents from the revenue and agriculture departments. The Centre sits on these reports in the name of study ad then, sends its Central teams two or three months later.
For example, the drought teams come when there are heavy rains and the flood teams are sent when there is complete drought.
Thus, the teams do not get the real picture to assess. They send routine reports to the Centre and the latter releases funds which do not account for not even 10 per cent of the requirement.
If the State requires Rs 2,000 cr to compensate the drought loss, the Centre releases only Rs 200 crore from the Calamity Relief Fund. That is why the Supreme Court was so angry!
