The Centre has released about ₹3,000 crore in the last eight years and more than ₹1,500 crore since 2018 for “overall disaster relief in Telangana,” said Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast G. Kishan Reddy on Wednesday.
Another ₹377.60 crore has been allocated for 2022-23 as part of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) but it will be released once the “pending utilisation certificates, annual reports and necessary documents are submitted” with the Ministry of Home assuring of complete support and cooperation in this matter, he said in a press release.
The Minister, also the Secunderabad MP, charged the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with making “misleading” statements about not receiving any assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) since 2018 or during the floods in Hyderabad or the Godavari floods now.
The primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Governments concerned as it undertakes relief measures in the wake of natural disasters from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at their disposal. Additional financial assistance is provided from NDRF, as per laid down procedure in case of disaster of ‘severe nature’, which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), he maintained.
Mr. Kishan Reddy explained that the Central Government contributes 75% of SDRF allocation for Telangana, which is a general category State/UT whereas the NDRF, constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, supplements SDRF, in case of a disaster of severe nature, and provided adequate funds are not available in State Disaster Response Fund.
For availing the NDRF funds, the State Government is required to submit a memorandum indicating the sector-wise damage and requirement of funds. 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 SDRF and NDRF, he said.
Mr. Kishan Reddy said that in 2020-2021, during the floods in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the allocation to the SDRF was approximately ₹599 crore of which the Centre’s share was $449 crore. This was released in two instalments of ₹224.50 crore each even when Telangana SDRF already had a balance of more than ₹1,500 crore of which ₹1,200 crore was Centre’s share, he asserted .
“These funds were sufficient to provide assistance to those affected by the GHMC floods in 2020 and providing relief and assistance to all the farmers, including tenant farmers, affected by the incessant and excessive rains,” he said. Similarly in 2021-2022, total allocation to SDRF was ₹479.20 crore out of which the Central share was ₹359.20 crore and this was released in two instalments of ₹179.60 crore each.
The year-wise fund releases in the SDRF & NDRF since 2014-2015 amounts to a total of ₹2970.87 crore in the last eight years excluding allocations made for 2022-2023, added the Minister.
