Worries mount as COVID-19 expenses deplete Karnataka's relief fund

The State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) appears to be depleting rapidly as the expenses incurred to tackle COVID-19 are increasing by the day.

Till date, the state has spent Rs 255 crore from SDRF and the expenses are expected to rise further in the coming months due to the increase in cases.

Considering that SDRF funds will be utilised for any disaster during the upcoming monsoon season and also for drought relief, authorities fear that the funds allocated for the financial year, Rs 1054 crore, would be insufficient.

The funds are being spent for quarantine centres, cluster containment measures, protective equipment for health workers, procurement of ventilators, PPE kits, basic screening equipment and others.

Growing requirement of quarantine centres due to the return of Kannadigas from abroad and different states of India has also caused the expenses to surge.

As of May 15, Karnataka was running 23,900 quarantine centres with the number expected to grow in the coming days.

Of the overall SDRF outlay of Rs 1054 crore, 75% - 790.5 crore will be released by the Centre, while the state has to mobilise the remainder of the funds.

The first instalment of Rs 395 crore was released by the Centre in early April, of which around Rs 189 crore was spent for COVID-19 expenses in the first five weeks of 2020-21.

This, along with Rs 65 crore of the 2019-20 SDRF outlay, was spent for COVID-19 purposes.

Authorities note that a significant chunk of the SDRF funds are annually released to compensate for flood and drought relief.

Noting that parts of Karnataka are perennially affected by either floods or drought, sources say additional allocation of SDRF may be required for the second half of the 2020-21 fiscal.

When contacted, T K Anil Kumar, Revenue Secretary (Disaster Management) said that the government currently had enough funds and the state could approach the Centre for additional allocations.