Hubballi: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka urged the government to immediately have a full-time agriculture minister and initiate emergency drought relief measures, amid fears of possible crop loss due to scant rainfall this monsoon so far.
Mentioning DH report ‘Crop loss is a concern when sowing is only 30% of the target in the state’ released on Tuesday, Ashoka sought measures to “protect the farmers of Karnataka before irreparable damage is caused”.
“Karnataka is looking at a full-blown agricultural crisis. Rainfall is 43% below normal. Sowing has reached only 30% of the seasonal target. Crops are drying up, farmers are in distress and the Kharif season is sliding towards disaster,” he said in the “X” post.
Criticizing Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for not appointing a full cabinet, Ashoka said, “While farmers battle drought and insecurity, the Congress government remains mired in endless factional warfare, ministerial negotiations and power-sharing politics.”
“Concerned farmers are looking for leadership. But all they see is a government consumed by its own survival. A government that cannot appoint a full-time Agriculture Minister in the midst of an agricultural emergency has no moral authority to claim to stand with farmers,” he added.
