Minister Priyank Kharge refutes Amit Shah's claim on drought relief report
Kalaburagi 2024: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has dismissed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the state government delayed submitting the drought relief report by three months, calling it false.
Speaking at a press conference at the Congress office in the city, Kharge stated, "The state government declared 223 taluks out of 236 taluks as drought-prone and 196 taluks out of 223 taluks as severely drought-prone, submitting a report to the Centre on September 22, 2023. A 10-member central team visited the drought-prone areas on October 5 and 9. Following their study, 21 more taluks were declared drought-prone, with an additional request submitted to the Centre on October 9."
Kharge further stated that the state adhered to the Drought Manual regulations, submitting the monsoon drought report by October 31 and the post-monsoon drought report by March 31. He expressed disappointment over Shah's statement, stating it was misleading as the request was submitted within the prescribed date.
He highlighted efforts made by the state government, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's requests to Union ministers for drought relief release. Despite these efforts, Kharge criticized Shah for not convening a high-level meeting to address the severe drought situation in the state.
Kharge concluded by accusing Shah of lying about the state's efforts and urged him to take decisive action to release the much-needed drought relief.
The total crop damage in the state is estimated at 18,171.44 crores across 48 lakh hectares. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has requested Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a letter dated November 15, 2023, to release drought relief funds.
Additionally, on November 23, 2023, the Agriculture Minister and the Revenue Minister personally met the Union Finance Minister to submit a request for drought relief.
Subsequently, on December 20, 2023, the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Finally, on January 19, 2024, the Chief Minister wrote to the Prime Minister requesting drought relief assistance. Despite these efforts, state ministers had to stage a protest in Delhi on February 7, 2024, to protest against the Centre's neglect.
The state is facing a severe drought situation, and despite the state government's efforts to secure relief by writing letters and meeting ministers, Home Minister Amit Shah has not called a high-level meeting or made a decision. Minister Priyank Kharge criticized Amit Shah, accusing him of lying when he visited the state.
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Bad timing: Fraudsters call senior Indore cop during press briefing to pull off 'digital arrest'
Indore, Nov 24: Some online fraudsters got their target and timing horribly wrong on Sunday after they attempted to "digitally arrest" a senior police official with an automated call over "credit card misuse" while he was addressing a press conference in Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
"The caller informed that I had misused my credit card and as a result a case had been registered with Andheri West police station in Mumbai. I was having a press briefing at the time. I was told my bank account would be blocked and was asked to visit the police station in two hours," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) of Indore crime branch Rajesh Dandotia told PTI.
The official said he told the caller he would not be able to make it to Mumbai from Indore at such short notice.
"The caller told me he would be connect me to someone from the police station. He then connected me to another person, who asked me to wait. He said he would talk to his senior officer to see if my statement could be recorded via video call. When he saw me in police uniform, he immediately disconnected the video call," the official narrated.
Dandotia said he asked media persons to record a video so that people can be made aware of such cyber crimes and digital arrest.
Digital arrest is a modus operandi of cyber criminals who threaten a person with arrest, force the person to remain confined in a room while keeping him or her under electronic surveillance and then extort money on the pretext of "clearing" him or her of charges.
जब एडीसीपी क्राइम इंदौर को ही आ गया डिजिटल अरेस्ट के लिए कॉल pic.twitter.com/H965PKz1Mo
— SanjayGupta_Journalist (@sanjaygupta1304) November 24, 2024
