Priyank Kharge Slams Centre for Discrimination in Flood Relief

bengaluru: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday criticized the Central government and accused it of discriminating against the state in allocation of flood relief funds.

Speaking to reporters, Kharge said that even though Karnataka is the highest GST paying state and contributes 8.9 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the state is being treated unfairly by the Union Government when it comes to devolution of funds. “They are strangling us by not giving us funds even though we are one of the states that collect the highest GST; our contribution to the GDP is more than 8.9%. There is always unfair treatment of Karnataka due to devolution of funds and taxes,” Kharge told reporters.

The Karnataka minister accused the Center of allocating more funds to BJP-ruled states and stated that the amount released for Karnataka was inadequate as per National Disaster Response Force norms.

“As per NDRF norms, this is not enough. We have reported huge losses and while BJP-ruled states get more, other states always fall short,” he said. Earlier on October 19, Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved an advance payment of Rs 1,950.80 billion to the State Governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra for the year 2025-26 as the 2nd installment of the Central share of SDRF.

Of the total amount of Rs 1,950.80 billion, Rs 384.40 billion has been approved for Karnataka and Rs 1,566.40 billion for Maharashtra, helping these states provide emergency relief assistance to people affected by extremely heavy rainfall and floods in this year’s southwest monsoon.

According to the Home Ministry statement, the Central Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and under the guidance of Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, is fully committed to provide all possible assistance to states affected by floods, landslides and heavy rains.