Bengaluru, Oct 5 (IANS): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Revenue, G. Parameshwara, on Monday said three central drought assessment teams were inspecting various parts of the state from October 3 to 6 to assess the ground situation in drought-hit areas. HM Parameshwara further said the drought could also affect Karnataka’s GST collections.
Speaking about the visit of the central teams, HM Parameshwara said the teams had been divided into three groups and sent to different parts of Karnataka. Each team was visiting three to four districts and assessing the situation in the 101 taluks declared drought-hit in the first phase.
“Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and I received the central teams and briefed them about the drought situation in the state. We also requested them to visit and inspect the remaining 77 taluks declared drought-hit in the second phase. Based on this, they are visiting almost all districts,” he said.
HM Parameshwara said members of the central teams had interacted directly with farmers in some places and visited agricultural fields to assess the actual situation. They had also witnessed on the ground the conditions identified during the state government’s ground-truthing exercise, he said.
The respective deputy commissioners and chief executive officers of the zilla panchayats briefed the central teams about the situation during their district visits, he added.
The inspection by the central teams was expected to conclude on October 5 or 6, after which they would submit their report to the Union government. The Centre would take a decision on the compensation sought by Karnataka based on the report, HM Parameshwara said.
He said the state had suffered an estimated loss of around Rs 46,000 crore across 177 taluks due to the drought.
“We have requested compensation of around Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 11,000 crore. We have made the same request before the central teams as well,” he said.
He added that the Chief Minister and he were considering travelling to Delhi with a delegation when the final memorandum was submitted to the Centre to seek drought relief.
On the reported sudden increase in charges for various services of the Revenue Department, HM Parameshwara said some service charges had been increased marginally in view of the rising cost of living.
“When the cost of living is increasing and the prices of everything are going up, some service charges have naturally been increased to a small extent,” he said.
He said Karnataka needed to strengthen its own revenue sources when there was a shortfall in funds due from the Centre.
“Therefore, some charges have been increased marginally,” he added.
On the possibility of reconsidering Sections 79A and 79B of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, HM Parameshwara said the provisions had been removed earlier for several reasons, but the government had received several representations seeking their reconsideration.
“We are examining the matter. After the examination, we will discuss it with the Chief Minister. If there is a need to take it to the Cabinet, we will place it before the Cabinet,” he said.
Parameshwara said the drought could also affect Karnataka’s GST collections.
He said Karnataka had consistently ranked second in the country in GST collections and that the state was collecting GST in accordance with the rules of the Union government without any shortfall or irregularity.
“We have presented Karnataka’s position at every GST Council meeting,” he said, adding that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had deputed Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to GST Council meetings, where he presented the state’s position.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the drought had resulted in crop losses and its impact would be felt across sectors.
“Naturally, GST collections may also decline. Financial experts have already said that this is possible,” he said.
The government would assess the impact in the coming days and had kept the necessary buffer, he added.
“We are also looking at what efforts need to be made to increase GST collections,” Parameshwara said.
He said Karnataka was facing a drought of a scale it had never experienced before and its impact would inevitably be felt across all sectors, including GST collections.
On the complaint submitted to the Election Commission regarding alleged misuse of Form 7, Parameshwara said the government had submitted evidence along with its complaint.
“They will do their work and we will do ours. We have submitted a complaint with evidence. We caught people red-handed while misusing Form 7 and submitted the evidence,” he said.
Questioning the large-scale submission of Form 7 applications, HM Parameshwara asked whether there was any limit on the number of applications an individual could submit.
“How is it possible for one person to submit 100, 200 or 400 applications?” he questioned.
He alleged that members of a particular community were being targeted and that forms were being printed and submitted in bulk.
“Who gave them the data? Where did they get the data from? The names and voter ID details are being written on pre-printed forms and submitted. This is against the law,” he alleged.
Parameshwara said all the evidence had been submitted to the Election Commission.
“The Election Commission has said that notices will be issued to the persons concerned, giving them seven days, after which FIRs will be registered. They should do that. FIRs should be registered against the persons we have identified and provided information about,” he said.
