Government approves Rs 4432.10 crore of additional Central assistance to Odisha, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh

Government approves Rs 4432.10 crore of additional Central assistance to Odisha, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh

Government approves Rs 4432.10 crore of additional Central assistance to Odisha, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh

The Government of India approved additional central assistance of Rs. 4432.10 crore to three States from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) - Rs. 3338.22 crore to Odisha for Cyclone Fani, Rs 1029.39 crore to Karnataka for drought and Rs 64.49 crore to Himachal Pradesh for avalanches and hailstorm.

The High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, met in New Delhi on 19th August 2019 to consider additional central assistance to three states, which were affected by drought (rabi) of 2018-19, avalanches, hailstorms, landslides and cyclone ‘Fani’ during 2019.

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 States.

During 2018-19, Centre had released Rs 9,658 crore to all states and during 2019-20, till date Centre has released Rs 6,104 crore to 24 States from SDRF.

In the case of Odisha at the onset of Cyclone 'Fani', Rs 340.87 crore was released in advance on 29th April 2019 from SDRF. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi visited Odisha on 06.05.2019, and as announced by him, immediate assistance of Rs. 1000 crore was released in advance.