The Centre on Friday, 4 October, approved an additional financial assistance of Rs 1813.75 crore to Karnataka and Bihar for the damages caused by the rains and floods in the two states, the Home Ministry said.
The approval came after Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the ongoing rescue and relief work of all flood-affected states.
Keeping in view the severity of flood situation and the fund positions in the State Disaster Relief Fund account of Bihar and Karnataka, the home minister has approved advance release of Rs 400 crore to Bihar and R 1,200 crore to Karnataka from the National Disaster Relief "on account basis", a home ministry statement said.
Karnataka and Bihar have apprised of the paucity of funds in the SDRF account resulting in delay in providing relief assistance to the affected people and requested for release of advance additional financial assistance from the NDRF.
Bihar had also requested for advance release of the second installment of centre's share of the SDRF for the year 2019-20.
Shah further approved the advance release of second installment of centre’s share of the SDRF amounting to Rs 213.75 crore to Bihar for the year 2019-20.
The statement said the Centre supplements the efforts of the state governments by providing assistance for relief of immediate nature through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per established procedure. The SDRF has been constituted for each state.
The central government contributes 75 percent for general category states and 90 percent for North-Eastern and hilly states of the SDRF allocation each year.
The first charge of relief expenditure is on the SDRF and in the cases of calamities of severe nature, it is supplemented from the NDRF as per established procedure.
Yediyurappa Thanks Centre, Cong Calls It ‘Humiliation’
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday thanked the Centre for releasing Rs 1,200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund for the flood-ravaged state.
Not satisfied with the allocation, state Congress termed it as a humiliation to the people of the state.
Yediyurappa's government had been facing intense criticism over the 'delay' in central aid.
“People of the state are humiliated with the allocation of Rs 1,200 crore as against the state government’s assessment of Rs 35,000 crore. This shows that the centre has zero confidence in @BSYBJP govt and doesn’t believe him. Kannadigas’ patience is put to severe test from @narendramodi on a regular basis!” Karnataka Congress tweeted.
Karnataka had sent a flood damage estimate of Rs 35,160.81 crore to the union government, reducing it by Rs 3,290 crore, after the Centre objected to inclusion of private buildings that were affected.
As many as 103 taluks in 22 districts were affected due to floods in August, in which over 80 people were killed.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)