Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and in-charge of Kalaburagi district Priyank Kharge said farmers in Kalaburagi district have received crop insurance compensation of ₹650 crore, the highest amount in the state so far.
He was speaking after inaugurating a felicitation program organized at the Veerashaiva Lingayat Kalyana Mantapa in Aland on Saturday to thank the government for facilitating ₹225 crore crop insurance compensation.
Mr. Priyank said that more than 4 million farmers in Kalaburagi district have received compensation under the crop insurance scheme. “For the current farming year (2025-26), as many as 3,00,952 farmers have applied for the crop insurance scheme,” he said.
Recalling the situation during the previous BJP regime, Mr. Priyank said that when pea crops were damaged by wilt, the government did not provide any compensation to the affected farmers at that time. “Though heavy rains caused widespread crop losses, then Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa did not visit the affected areas. He returned from the airport itself,” he said.
Pointing to the current rains and resulting crop losses across the district, Mr. Priyank said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas and held meetings with people’s representatives and officials and promised to provide additional compensation of ₹8,500 per hectare from the state exchequer, over and above the assistance sanctioned by the Center as per NDRF norms.
Highlighting the impact of the state government’s guarantee schemes, Mr. Priyank said initiatives like Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Shakti, Yuva Nidhi and Anna Bhagya have improved the financial condition of the poor. “These benefits will reach everyone – not just Congress supporters but even BJP workers. Yet BJP leaders continue to criticize these plans. They should at least feel ashamed,” he noted.
Referring to the implementation of Article 371(J), the minister said that since its enforcement, the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) has been getting an annual grant of ₹5,000 crore. “During the Congress regime, big institutions like ESIC Hospital, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and several educational institutions like Central University of Karnataka were set up in Kalaburagi. Constructive criticism of development is welcome but baseless political propaganda must stop,” he said.
Mr. Kharge said that under the Kalyana Patha and Pragati Patha schemes, road development works were implemented covering nearly 8,257 km of rural roads in the district.
‘Vote Steal’
Touching on the issue of Vote Chori (vote theft), he said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had raised concerns earlier, but it was BR Patil, MLA and Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board, who backed the claim with evidence. “The matter has now taken a serious turn and people will soon come to know through the investigation how the BJP conspired against democracy and the constitution,” he said and urged people to continue to support Mr. Patil as he did.
BR Patil, presiding over the event, said that widespread crop losses due to natural calamities have left farmers in dire straits. “Farmers must get at least the minimum support price for their produce to survive. Thousands of farmers have died in protests across the country, but the Prime Minister has not even expressed condolences,” he said.
Mr. Patil pointed out that while Maharashtra received ₹1.30 crore as relief from the Centre, Karnataka received only ₹40,000 crore. “This injustice needs to be fought collectively,” he said, adding that ₹60 crore had been spent under the Amrit program to supply drinking water to the city of Aland.
MLC Tippannappa Kamakanur, GESCOM Chairman Praveen Harawal, Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum, Superintendent of Police Adduru Srinivasulu and Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhanwar Singh Meena were among those present.
Published – 01 Nov 2025 20:06 IST
