Drought report

1. At a Glance

• Drought declaration in India is a technical, indicator-based administrative process. It uses agricultural and hydrological indicators plus ground-truthing to declare drought. A State needs this declaration to obtain extra central funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) [1][2].
• The Manual for Drought Management (2009, updated since) and Finance Commission decisions have made declarations less subjective. Earlier, States sometimes exaggerated claims to get more central support [1].
• For UPSC this links disaster management (GS-III), fiscal federalism (GS-II), monsoon variability and El Niño (GS-I), and agrarian distress (GS-III).

2. Why in the News

• After the 2026 southwest monsoon, which had its poorest showing since 2015, a substantial drought is affecting Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh [1].
• Karnataka: rainfall deficit of about 35% in June–September. 217 of 240 taluks declared drought-hit, with damage to red gram, maize, cotton and sugarcane. The State has sought ₹11,000 crore from the NDRF and higher input subsidies [1].
• Andhra Pradesh: shortfall of 53% in June–August. 388 of 688 mandals declared drought-hit. Horticulture over about 18,000 ha is at risk. The State has set aside ₹190 crore for horticulture and ordered drinking-water conservation [1].
• The Hindu's editorial (13 Oct 2026, p.10, Chennai) says the Centre must help the States once the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) reports its findings [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Before 2009: drought declarations were largely subjective and sometimes inflated to maximise central assistance [1].
• 2009: the Manual for Drought Management was issued. It and later updates, together with Finance Commission decisions, tightened the declaration process [1][2].
• NDMA National Guidelines – Management of Drought: these set out the institutional framework for drought management [3].
• Older SDRF/NDRF procedure [6][7]:
• If a State's SDRF balance is inadequate, it makes a request.
• The MHA or the Ministry of Agriculture assesses whether a case for NDRF assistance exists.
• A central team makes an on-the-spot assessment.
• The National Executive Committee (NEC) examines the report and recommends.

• A High Level Committee (HLC) approves the relief.

• August 2019: the government decided an IMCT would be constituted immediately after a severe calamity, without waiting for the State memorandum [4].

• Present practice: the State submits a memorandum stating damage and funds needed. An IMCT assesses on the spot and reports, and the HLC approves the assistance [6].

4. Core Static Facts

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• Damage to kharif pulses (red gram), coarse cereals (maize) and cash crops (cotton, sugarcane) cuts farm incomes and may push up pulse prices [1].
• Large State demands (Karnataka's ₹11,000 crore) strain the NDRF corpus and Centre–State fiscal negotiations [1].

Social

• Drinking-water scarcity has led to conservation orders in Andhra Pradesh [1].
• Horticulture-dependent smallholders face high exposure, with about 18,000 ha at risk in Andhra Pradesh [1].

Environmental / Climatic

• A strengthening El Niño has been flagged. A formal attribution study on its causal role in 2026 is still pending [1].
• Declarations combine hydrological and agricultural (vegetation, soil moisture) indicators, not rainfall alone [1][2].

Governance / Federal

• States still have some incentive to declare drought widely. Indicator-based criteria and IMCT verification act as a check [1].
• The Centre often delays releases after the IMCT reports. The editorial argues for timely help once the IMCT has reported [1].

Administrative

• Using the taluk/block as the unit lets declarations be fine-grained. It also means mandal/taluk-level data quality is decisive [2].
• Constituting the IMCT before the memorandum (2019 reform) aims to speed up assessment [4].

Scientific / Technological

• Satellite indices (NDVI) and the soil-moisture/Moisture Adequacy Index reduce subjectivity [2].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 2026 monsoon (June–Sept): poorest since 2015, with El Niño concerns [1].
• Karnataka declared 217 of 240 taluks drought-hit and sought ₹11,000 crore from the NDRF [1].
• Andhra Pradesh declared 388 of 688 mandals drought-hit and allocated ₹190 crore for horticulture [1].
• 18 March 2026: an MHA Rajya Sabha reply on disaster relief/NDRF matters (Q. 2960) [5].
• 13 Oct 2026: The Hindu editorial "Drought report" urges central support once the IMCT gives its findings [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The nodal ministry for drought is the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, not the MHA [3][5].
• The Manual for Drought Management was first brought out in 2009 [1].
• The manual has four standard drought-monitoring indicators: rainfall deficiency, area sown, NDVI, and moisture adequacy/soil moisture [2].
• The four indicators are applied in combination, not singly [2].
• Drought is declared at the taluka/tehsil/block level [2].
• There is no time limit for a State to declare drought [2].
• NDRF assistance is additional to the SDRF and is sought when the SDRF is inadequate [1][7].
• An IMCT makes the on-the-spot assessment of calamity damage [6].
• Since August 2019, an IMCT may be constituted before the State memorandum arrives in severe calamities [4].
• Final approval of NDRF assistance is given by the High Level Committee [6][7].
• The manual includes a memorandum template for drought relief requests [2].
• In 2026 Karnataka declared 217 of 240 taluks drought-hit, with a rainfall deficit of about 35% [1].
• In 2026 Andhra Pradesh declared 388 of 688 mandals drought-hit, with a shortfall of 53% in June–August [1].

8. The Opposite Problem: States That Will Not Declare Drought

• The note says States used to exaggerate drought. The Supreme Court found the reverse problem too
• In 2016, Swaraj Abhiyan filed a PIL (public interest litigation, a case filed for the public good) after nine States had declared drought [11].
• The Court criticised Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat for not declaring drought at all. Reports called this an "ostrich-like" attitude [12][13].

• Why a State might stay silent: a declaration is a public admission of crisis, and the State must then spend on relief.

• No time limit to declare, so farmers wait

• The note's table says the 2009 manual set no deadline for declaring drought [2].
• The Court asked the Centre to revise the manual by 31 December 2016. It wanted a time limit, the right weight for each indicator, and less freedom for States to refuse a declaration [11].

• Until a declaration is made, no relief can be released. Even after the Court's order, reports found farmers suffering because States had not yet declared drought [11].

• What this means for 2026

• Karnataka (217 of 240 taluks) and Andhra Pradesh (388 of 688 mandals) declared early and widely [1].
• So the real test this year is not whether they declared. It is how much of the declared area the IMCT will accept as severe.

9. Why Karnataka May Not Get All of Its ₹11,000 Crore

• Since 2016, only 'severe' drought qualifies for central money
• The Centre issued a new drought manual in December 2016, after the Court's order [14].
• Under it, States pay for 'moderate' drought from their own funds. They can approach the Centre only for 'severe' drought [14].

• Karnataka protested this change to the definition of drought, because it shrinks the area that can claim NDRF money [14].

• Note that the indicator set itself changed

• The note lists four indicators from the 2009 manual [2].

• Reporting on the 2016 manual describes six parameters [14]. Check the current edition before writing "four" in an answer about drought declared today.

• The amount asked for and the amount given are always far apart

• Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance (2019) recorded a "wide gap" between the funds States seek and the funds the Centre releases [9].
• So a State's memorandum (its written request stating damage and funds needed) is an opening bid. It is not a forecast of what will arrive.

10. Why Help Arrives Late Even After the IMCT Reports

• The delay problem is old and well recorded
• The 13th Finance Commission noted that releases to States from the national calamity fund were often delayed [10].
• States also complained that they did not understand how the amount of assistance was worked out [10].

• The Commission noted that the CAG had raised the same problem in its review of tsunami relief [10].

• Every step in the chain adds waiting time

• The IMCT visits and reports. Then the HLC must meet and approve the amount before money moves [8][6].

• The 2019 reform let the IMCT start before the memorandum arrives [4]. But it did nothing about the gap between the IMCT report and the HLC's approval. That gap is exactly what the editorial complains about [1].

• The money pool behind the NDRF has become thinner

• The NDRF is financed by the NCCD (National Calamity Contingency Duty, a special tax set aside for disasters).
• NCCD collections fell from ₹5,690 crore in 2015-16 to ₹2,500 crore in 2018-19, partly because of GST [9].
• When two big States claim in the same year, a smaller pool means more bargaining and slower releases.

11. Relief Money Follows Past Spending, Not Drought Risk

• States that get drought often are not paid more to prepare for it
• The Standing Committee on Finance (2019) said disaster funds should be based on how exposed a State is to disasters. They were being based on how much it had spent in the past [9].

• Under spending-based allocation, a State that prepares better and spends less on relief can end up with a smaller share later.

• States themselves skip the preparation work

• A 2025 CAG audit found one State had issued no drought guidelines for its own regions, even though it faced widespread drought again and again [8].
• The same audit found affected farmers got little relief through tax waivers or concessions [8].

• This shows the weak link is not only Delhi's slow cheque. States also fail to plan before the monsoon fails.

• Relief pays for the damage, not for reducing it

• The NDRF route pays out after crops are lost. The Committee asked for a separate fund for permanent mitigation (work that reduces future damage) in disaster-prone States [9].

12. What Should Change, and Who Should Do It

• Centre (MHA and Finance Ministry): release an advance automatically in rare, severe disasters
• The Standing Committee on Finance (2019) recommended this, so relief can begin before the HLC's final approval [9].

• A drought across about 90% of Karnataka's taluks [1] is the kind of case it was meant for.

• Finance Commission: base disaster funds on risk, not past spending

• This was also recommended by the Standing Committee (2019) [9]. Peninsular States hit again and again by drought would then get a fair share before the next bad monsoon.

• Ministry of Agriculture: fix a deadline for declaring drought

• This carries out what the Supreme Court asked for in Swaraj Abhiyan (2016) [11]. It stops States from staying silent, and stops farmers from waiting with no relief.

• States: write drought plans for each region and use their own relief tools

• The 2025 CAG audit found these were missing [8]. Tax waivers and region-wise plans need no central approval.

• Make the formula open to everyone

• The 13th Finance Commission recorded that States did not understand how assistance was assessed [10].
• If the IMCT's scoring of 'severe' versus 'moderate' were published, there would be less public bargaining after each drought.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: NCCD collections, which finance the NDRF, fell from ₹5,690 crore (2015-16) to ₹2,500 crore (2018-19) [9]
• Data: Karnataka has declared 217 of 240 taluks drought-hit and is seeking ₹11,000 crore from the NDRF [1]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Finance, Central Assistance for Disaster Management and Relief (2019). It found a wide gap between funds sought and funds released, and recommended automatic advance release and allocation based on risk [9]
• Report/Committee: 13th Finance Commission, Chapter 11. It recorded delayed releases and unclear assessment of assistance [10]
• Report/Committee: CAG audit (2025), drought chapter. It found no region-specific drought guidelines in the audited State [8]
• Law/Case: Swaraj Abhiyan v. Union of India (2016). The Supreme Court ordered the drought manual revised, with a time limit for declaration and less discretion for States [11][12]
• Law/Case: Disaster Management Act, 2005, the legal basis of the SDRF and NDRF [7]
• Scheme: Drought Manual 2016. Only 'severe' drought qualifies for central assistance; States fund 'moderate' drought themselves [14]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Disaster and disaster management; Agriculture and irrigation; Agrarian distress.
• GS-II: Centre–State relations and fiscal federalism; role of the Finance Commission.
• GS-I: Distribution of key natural resources and important geophysical phenomena (monsoon, El Niño).
• Possible question stems: 1. India's drought declaration has moved from subjective assessment to an indicator-based framework. Critically examine whether this has reduced Centre–State friction over NDRF assistance. 2. Discuss the role of satellite-based indices in drought monitoring. How can drought management in India move from crisis response to risk management? 3. El Niño years repeatedly expose the vulnerability of rainfed agriculture in peninsular India. Suggest structural measures to build drought resilience.

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• SDRF/NDRF and the Disaster Management Act, 2005: the statutory basis of the funds that drought relief draws on [7].
• Finance Commission disaster-risk financing: it shapes the size of the funds and the sharing of costs between Centre and States [1].
• El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and IOD: the main drivers of monsoon deficits.
• NDMA Drought Guidelines: the institutional framework for drought management [3].
• PM Fasal Bima Yojana: crop insurance as a complement to relief.
• Watershed / PMKSY / Jal Shakti Abhiyan: long-term measures to mitigate drought.
• Remote sensing (NDVI, soil moisture): the technology behind the drought indicators [2].

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Drought (Geography): The whole note is about how drought is defined, monitored and declared in India.
• NDVI (Geography): NDVI is one of the four indicators used to declare drought, measuring crop and vegetation health.
• Disaster Management Act 2005 (Geography): This Act created the NDMA, NDRF and the disaster funds that drought relief draws on.
• Finance Commission (Polity): Finance Commission decisions shape disaster funds and have made drought declarations less subjective.
• Fiscal federalism (Economy): States seek central NDRF money, so Centre–State fund sharing and negotiation is the core issue.
• Southern Oscillation (Geography): El Niño, part of ENSO, is the climatic driver behind the weak 2026 monsoon.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Wrong nodal ministry: for drought it is the Ministry of Agriculture, not the MHA [3][5].
• "Drought = rainfall deficit" is wrong. Declaration uses multiple indicators in combination, plus ground-truthing [1][2].
• NDRF ≠ the NDRF force: the National Disaster Response Fund is different from the National Disaster Response Force.
• Sequence confusion: the SDRF is used first and the NDRF is additional. The HLC approves aid, not the IMCT; the IMCT only assesses [6][7].
• Declaration unit: the taluk/block, not the district or State as a whole [2].