Centre approves additional Rs 941 crore disaster fund for Karnataka

A high-level committee, headed by Union home minister Amit Shah, on Monday approved additional central assistance of over Rs 1800 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five States, including Karnataka, affected by floods, landslides and cloudbursts during 2022.

The committee approved assistance of Rs 1,816.162 crore, with Karnataka getting the highest share of Rs 941.04 crore, Assam Rs 520.46 crore, Rs 239.3 crore to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 47.3 crore to Meghalaya and Rs 68.02 crore to Nagaland.

The government said the 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 the states. During the financial year 2022-23, the Centre has released Rs. 15,770.4 crore to 25 states in their SDRF and Rs. 502.74 crore to four States from NDRF.

The Centre had deputed inter-ministerial central teams to these states, immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of memorandums from them.