Centre approves release of Rs 7,352 crore disaster relief fund to 22 states

The Centre on Wednesday released an amount of Rs 7,532 crore to 22 state governments under the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF). The amount has been released according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs.  

Let's take a look at state-wise details of the amount released:

State	Amount (in Rs crore)
Andhra Pradesh	493.60
Arunachal Pradesh	110.40
Assam	340.40
Bihar	624.40
Chhattisgarh	181.60
Goa	4.80
Gujarat	584
Haryana	216.80
Himachal Pradesh	180.40
Karnataka	348.80
Kerala	138.80
Maharashtra	1420.80
Manipur	18.80
Meghalaya	27.20
Mizoram	20.80
Odisha	707.60
Punjab	218.40
Tamil Nadu	450
Telangana	188.80
Tripura	30.40
Uttar Pradesh	812
Uttrakhand	413.20

In the wake of heavy rains across the country, the guidelines have been relaxed and the amount has been released as immediate assistance to states without waiting for the utilisation certificate of the amount provided to the states in the last financial year, said the Ministry of Finance in a press release.

The SDRF has been constituted in each State under Section 48 (1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The fund is the primary fund available with state governments for responses to notified disasters. The central government contributes 75 per cent to the SDRF in general states and 90 per cent in North-East and Himalayan states, it said.  

The annual central contribution is released in two equal instalments based on recommendation of the Finance Commission.  

According to the guidelines, the funds are released on receipt of utilisation certificate of the amount released in the earlier instalment and receipt of a report from the state government on the activities undertaken from SDRF. However, in view of the urgency, these requirements were waived while releasing the funds this time.

The SDRF is to be used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims of notified calamities like cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, fire, floods, tsunamis, hailstorms, landslides, avalanches, cloud bursts, pest attacks and frost and cold wave, the ministry said.

Allocation of SDRF funds to the states is based on multiple factors like past expenditure, area, population, and disaster risk index.  These factors reflect states' institutional capacity, risk exposure, and hazard and vulnerability, it added.

Based on the 15th Finance Commission recommendations, the central government has allocated Rs 1,28,122.40 crore for SDRF for years 2021-22 to 2025-26. Out of this amount, the Centre’s share is Rs 98,080.80 crore.  

The central government had already released Rs 34,140 before the current release. With the current release, the total amount of central share of SDRF released to the state governments so far has gone up to Rs 42,366 crore.