Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast G. Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said the Center has released nearly ₹3,000 crore in the last eight years and over ₹1,500 crore since 2018 for “composite disaster relief in Telangana”.
Another ₹377.60 crore has been allocated for 2022-23 as part of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), but it will be released after “pending utilization certificates, annual reports and necessary documents are submitted” with the Ministry of Home Affairs. will be issued. Support and cooperation in this matter, he said in a press release.
The minister, also the Secunderabad MP, accused the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of making “misleading” statements about no assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) since 2018 or during the floods in Hyderabad or the Godavari floods. .
The primary responsibility of disaster management rests with the respective State Governments as it takes up relief measures in the wake of natural calamities from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), which is already at their disposal. He said that in case of calamity of ‘severe nature’ additional financial assistance is provided from NDRF as per the prescribed procedure, which includes assessment based on visits by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
Shri Kishan Reddy informed that the Central Government contributes 75% of the SDRF allocation for Telangana, which is a General Category State/Union Territory, while the NDRF constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in case of a disaster Supplements SDRF. of a serious nature, and provided that sufficient funds are not available in the State Disaster Response Fund.
To avail the NDRF fund, a memorandum has to be submitted to the state government which mentions the area wise damage and requirement of funds. He said that as per the extant items and norms of SDRF and NDRF, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has been constituted and deputed for on-the-spot assessment of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations.
Mr. Kishan Reddy said that in 2020-2021, during the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) floods, the allocation to SDRF was around ₹599 crore, of which the Center’s share was $449 crore. It was released in two installments of ₹224.50 crore, even as the Telangana SDRF already had a balance of over ₹1,500 crore, of which ₹1,200 crore was the Centre’s share, he said.
“These funds were sufficient to provide assistance to those affected by GHMC floods in 2020 and to provide relief and assistance to all farmers including tenant farmers affected by frequent and excessive rains,” he said. Similarly in 2021-2022, the total allocation to SDRF was ₹479.20 crore, out of which the central share was ₹359.20 crore and was released in two installments of ₹179.60 crore.
The year-wise fund releases in SDRF and NDRF since 2014-2015 amounted to ₹2970.87 crore in the last eight years excluding the allocation made for 2022-2023.