Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah asks banks not to adjust drought relief funds against farm loan dues

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday asked banks not to adjust drought relief funds the government has released to individual farmers through a direct benefit transfer (DBT) against the dues of their agriculture loans.

The CM, who chaired a meeting of deputy commissioners and zilla panchayat CEOs in the presence of ministers and department secretaries, said officials must ensure farmers got loans for the oncoming crop season on time. The government had already sent this year's agriculture credit plans, and officials must now act by coordinating with bankers in districts, he said.

Siddaramaiah disapproved of the way insurance firms were handling the crop loss insurance claims. Such conduct would bring bad name to the government, he said, and asked officials to discuss with insurance firms and make life easy for farmers.


The monsoon had begun, and the deputy commissioners could not pay attention to development activities as they were busy with the conduct of Lok Sabha election. The state had received higher than normal rainfall in May and sowing operations had also begun. The government has targeted sowing in 68,000 hectares of land. The code of conduct was still in force. In view of this, all officials must work in close coordination and attend to priority work.