Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai speaks in the Lok Sabha
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday informed Rajya Sabha that it has granted the highest allocation to Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Assam under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in the last two years, 2022-2024 for natural calamities.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that while Rs 941 crore was approved by the Centre's high-level committee for Karnataka, Rs 873 crore and Rs 594 crore were approved for Himachal Pradesh and Assam for floods and landslides in 2022-24.
In a written reply, he said Rs 939 crore was released to Karnataka from the NDRF, Rs 812 crore to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 160 crore to Assam in the last two years.
Rai said Tamil Nadu has been given Rs 276 crore for flood and cyclone, Sikkim Rs 267 crore for flood and landslides, Nagaland Rs 68 crore in the last two years.
"Additional financial assistance from NDRF is considered as per the established procedure. Further, the states, while preparing their memorandum seeking additional financial assistance from NDRF, generally include ineligible items and assess the expenditure beyond the prescribed norms," he said.
Rai said funds under the NDRF are provided for immediate relief and not for long term rehabilitation and resettlement works. This is the reason for the variation in the demands submitted by the states and the amount approved by the central government.
The allocation of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to states is based on the recommendations of successive Finance Commissions, set up under Article 280 of the Constitution, from time to time, the Minister said.