Centre released Rs 3,000 cr in 8 years for Disaster Relief, but TRS misleading people: Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad, July 20 (Maxim News): Union minister for tourism & culture G. Kishan Reddy today said the ruling TRS party was misleading the people of the State by claiming that it did not get single paise from the Union government under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) since the last three years.

In a statement here, Kishan Reddy said the Central government had released ₹3000 crore to the State under the NDRF in the past eight years. He also said the Centre had given ₹1500 crore to the State since 2018. He said the ruling TRS party leaders were making false statements on the issue.

Referring to the GHMC floods, the Union minister said of the ₹599 crore of funds of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), he said the Centre released ₹449 crore during the financial year 2020-21 and noted that they released the amount under instalments of ₹224.50 crore. He also said of the total ₹1500 crore kept in SDRF during the same 2020-21 fiscal, ₹1200 crore belong to the Centre and added that the amount was enough to extend financial assistance to the victims of the GHMC floods.

Kishan Reddy said of the ₹479.20 crore of the SDRF, the share of the Centre was ₹359.20 crore for the 2021-22 fiscal and added that the said amount was released in two instalments. The Union minister said the Centre had sanctioned ₹377.60 crore to the SDRF in the current fiscal and added that they would release the funds only after the receipt of the utilisation certificates, annual reports and other documents.

Kishan Reddy said the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State governments concerned. Additional financial aid is provided from the NDRF as per procedure in case of disaster of ‘severe nature’, which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

As per this procedure, the State Government is required to submit a memorandum indicating the sector wise damage and requirement of funds. On receipt of the memorandum from the State, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is constituted and deputed for an on the spot assessment of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations, as per the extant items and norms of State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Fund.

In the year 2020-2021, during the floods in GHMC, the allocation to the State Disaster Response Fund was approximately Rs 599 crores of which the Centre’s share was Rs 449 crore. The year-wise fund releases in the SDRF & NDRF since 2014-2015 amounts to Rs 2970.87 crore in the last 8 years.

The release of SDRF for the ensuing years is dependent on the submission of Utilisation Certificates (UCs) and annual reports and other documents. For the year 2022-2023, a total of Rs. 377.60 crores have been allocated but money will be released once the pending Utilisation Certificates (UCs) and annual reports and other necessary documents are submitted. The Ministry of Home Affairs has promised complete support and cooperation in this matter. (Maxim News)

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