Don't take things so lightly, just because you're Gujarat: SC on drought situation

Nearly 33 crore people live in the dozen drought-hit states, the Centre told the Supreme Court on 19 April. The government faced tough questions on its handling of the drought situation, with the court saying it is the Centre's responsibility to warn states about a crisis.

The court also admonished Gujarat for submitting a note instead of an affidavit on the drought situation.

"Why have you not filed affidavit? Don't take things so lightly, just because you're Gujarat doesn't mean you can do whatever you like," the judges said, asking the state to submit the document by Thursday.

"If you are told that 96 per cent crop is sown in a particular area of the state but you receive information of scanty rainfall, don't just tell them that everything is right and think there is possibility of the Centre telling states about a possible drought," said the court.

The government said that 256 districts across India are affected by drought and they house more than a quarter of the country's population.

"The total population in such areas may be 33 crore but the actual number of people affected by drought is likely to be less than what is reflected in gross population figures of such drought affected districts," the government's lawyer, Additional Solicitor General PA Narasimha said.

However, the number of people affected by drought could be higher, said the government, as Bihar and Haryana haven't declared a crisis situation, despite less rain.

The court said it was the Centre's responsibility to "inform and warn that these (drought-affected) states will receive less rainfall".

An NGO has petitioned the court saying that the budget allocation of Rs 38,500 crore to the rural job guarantee scheme is far from what is needed to tackle the crisis in drought-hit states.

The government told the court that it was releasing money to the states from its disaster fund.

The court asked the Centre to furnish information on how many households in drought-hit areas had 150 days' employment under the job scheme.