Karnataka declared drought well ahead of deadline, Amit Shah’s claim that we declared it late is a lie: Krishna Byre Gowda

Disputing the recent statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Karnataka government submitted its proposal seeking drought relief three months late, leading to a delay in providing relief to the State, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has asserted that it was done well in time.

Disputing the recent statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Karnataka government submitted its proposal seeking drought relief three months late, leading to a delay in providing relief to the State, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has asserted that it was done well in time.

He countered Mr. Shah’s claim with documents on Saturday in a public debate on ‘Has Karnataka been meted out injustice by the Union government?’ organised by Jagruta Karnataka, a civil society group, where Mr. Gowda was supposed to face off with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. However, Ms. Sitharaman did not turn up for the event.

“We declared drought on September 13, 2023, 48 days before the October 31 deadline for the same. We submitted a memorandum seeking drought relief on September 22, 2023. The Central team visited the State between October 4 and 9, 2023. The team further submitted its report on October 20, 2023. The subcommittee of the National Executive Committee (SC-NEC), held a meeting on November 13, 2023, and on November 20, the SC-NEC made its recommendations to the Home Ministry,” he said, displaying related documents to substantiate this claim in a presentation he made for over two hours.

“While Mr. Shah now claims that we declared drought three months late, a delegation of the State government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met him on December 20, 2023, when he assured us that he would hold the meeting on December 23 and clear the funds. We have also met the Prime Minister in this regard. The Union government, in the minutes of the meeting circulated recently, said the Karnataka model of declaring drought was to be adopted by all States,” he said displaying documents regarding the same.

The Minister, the State’s representative in the GST Council, took on Ms. Sitharaman in her absence on the State’s share in tax devolution and alleged “injustice” regarding the same. Ms. Sitharaman had earlier in the day termed the ‘My Tax, My Right’ campaign “against national interest”. 

Rebutting her statement, Mr. Gowda said Karnataka had been one of the most self-reliant States in terms of share of Central funds in the State’s Budget and was the second highest taxpayer, only next to Maharashtra. He also added that Karnataka paid the highest per capita tax in the country. “We are proud that we pay the highest tax and are supporting other States that are lagging behind. We understand regional disparity, which we also face within our State. For every ₹100 tax we pay, we get back a meagre ₹12 to ₹14, while some States get back several times more than what they pay. We are not asking for all taxes we pay to be devolved to us. But our State is definitely eligible to get at least ₹30 of every ₹100 we pay as tax and asking for the same is not anti-national,” he said.

“Following the GST regime, States have little space to generate their own resources at their discretion. To top this, the Union government has increased cess and surcharge continuously which has shrunk the divisible pool. We are one of the worst-affected States and the fiscal pressure on the State is only increasing and in that light the State is only asking for its rightful share,” he said.