SunstarTV Bureau: A committee, headed by Home Minister, Amit Shah, has approved additional assistance of Rs 4,381.88 crore to six states affected by natural calamities in 2020.
The financial aid will be released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Sikkim to cope the financial damage caused by nature’s wrath.
For West Bengal and Odisha , Rs 2,707.77 and Rs.128.23 crore has been approved, respectively, to fight back the rampaging effect cyclone ‘Amphan’.
For cyclone ‘Nisarga’, Rs 268.59 crore has been approved for Maharashtra. For floods and landslides during the South-West monsoon, Rs 577.84 crore has been approved for Karnataka, Rs 611.61 crore for Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 87.84 crore for Sikkim.
For immediate relief activities financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to West Bengal and Rs 500 crore to Odisha were released, in advance, on May 23, 2020, stated the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Without waiting for the receipt from the affected states, the central government had assigned deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs), right after the calamities hit the states.
Also, during the financial year 2020-21, till date, the central government has released Rs 15,524.43 crore to 28 states from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the statement added.
