New Delhi: Karnataka, which suffered a severe drought this year, was on Thursday allocated Rs 1,782.44 crore Central assistance. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The proposal based on the inter-ministerial central team that visited the states affected by flood and drought were examined and approved Rs 1,782.44 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund for Karnataka. Suprisingly, the state had demanded for Rs 5,064 cr relief package from the centre  to provide relief to Hyderabad-Karnataka districts.

Karnataka was the first state this year to declare drought. The deficiency of northeast monsoon rains in the state from October 1 till date is 71% and the state government has already declared 139 taluks drought-hit. The chief minister had led an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 seeking his intervention for providing relief to the state which had faced the worst drought in the last 50 years.

Speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, the CM said that amount sanctioned by the centre was meager.