Centre approves Rs 1,816 crore to 5 states as disaster relief

A High Level Committee, headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved the release of an additional Rs 1,816 crore to five states, including Karnataka, as central assistance for the natural disasters faced by them. According to an official statement, the assistance will be provided to Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Nagaland for floods, landslides and cloudburst that occurred during 2022.

The HLC under Shah’s chairmanship has approved the additional central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five states, the statement said.

This shows the resolve of the Union government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the people of five states who faced these natural disasters, it said.

While Assam will get Rs 520.466 crore, Himachal Pradesh will receive Rs 239.31 crore and Karnataka Rs 941.04 crore, it said.

It added that Rs 47.326 crore has been approved for Meghalaya and Rs 68.02 crore for Nagaland.

This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the states in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the states, it said.

During the financial year 2022-23, the central government has released Rs 15,770.40 crore to 25 states in their SDRF and Rs 502.744 crore to four states from the NDRF.

The central government had deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these states, immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of Memorandum from them, the statement added.