The Centre on Friday released Rs 17,287.08 crore to states in revenue deficit grants and state disaster response mitigation fund (SDRMF) for 2020-21, to help them deal with the Covid-19 crisis.
This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a videoconference with chief ministers on ways to tackle the escalating number of cases in the country. The amount released by the finance ministry is a fraction of what states have been demanding, in financial support as well as clearance of pending dues. Central government officials say there is understandably a resource crunch, but more will be given.
“The Finance Ministry