The Centre on Thursday approved a Rs 795.54-crore relief fund for farmers in Karnataka who had lost their harvest because of the drought in the 2016-’17 crop year, PTI reported. The state had sought Rs 3,310 crore from the central government.

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh had held a high-level meeting earlier in the day to discuss the proposal made by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team that had visited the affected regions in Karnataka, ANI reported. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh were also were present at the meeting, among others.

“Though the amount is lower than our demand, it is higher than the Rs 607 crore sanctioned for the rabi crop [winter crop] loss in 2015-’16,” Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said, adding that he hopes the funds are released without delay.

Gowda further said that the state government has prepared a platform for the “transparent” transfer of relief funds that will send the money directly to the bank accounts of the affected farmers.