Malingaraya Pujar
CH NEWS
Intense discontent has erupted across the agrarian community of Gadag district over what farmer groups describe as arbitrary and discriminatory criteria adopted by the Karnataka State Government in notifying drought-affected taluks.
The publication of the state’s second official list has dealt a severe blow to distressed cultivators. In the initial notification, the revenue department designated only Gajendragad taluk as drought-hit, leaving farmers elsewhere hopeful of relief in the subsequent phase. However, the newly issued second list incorporated only Nargund, Lakshmeshwar, and Shirahatti taluks, while once again omitting the severely parched taluks of Gadag, Rona, and Mundargi.
Agrarian bodies pointed out the acute contradiction between political outreach and bureaucratic action. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, accompanied by the District In-charge Minister, had recently undertaken direct field inspections in parched stretches of Gadag and Mundargi. During the visit, top state leadership witnessed standing crops wilting and received direct representations from distraught growers. Cultivators expressed deep dismay that firsthand ground observation by the state’s executive leadership yielded no administrative declaration, accusing desk-bound officials of relying blindly on remote sensing and theoretical satellite metrics rather than ground realities.
Monsoon failures across Gadag district have led to critical hydrological depletion, drying up open irrigation wells, village tanks, and bunds. Sown crops are rotting or withering from severe soil moisture stress. Agronomists and farmer representatives argued that climatic conditions and crop devastation are uniform across the district’s boundaries, making selective notifications unjustifiable.
Farmer federations have demanded that the state immediately notify the entire district of Gadag as fully drought-affected. They called for immediate financial relief, including direct input subsidies, crop loss indemnities, and waivers on institutional agricultural loans. Agrarian leaders warned that if Gadag, Rona, and Mundargi are not promptly incorporated into the drought relief fold, cultivators will gherao the Deputy Commissioner’s office and launch an aggressive district-wide agitation.
“CM D.K. Shivakumar himself came to our dry lands in Mundaragi and Gadag and saw the crop damage with his own eyes. Even after the state leaders came and saw, they did not declare a drought in our taluks. What more can we say about this government system? It is a slap in the face to us that they are giving the pretext of a technical report even though we can see it with our own eyes.” Ashwini Bidnal (Gowdar), farmer leader
