Bhubaneswar: The Centre has released Rs 707.60 crore to State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) to meet disaster related expenditure in the State.
The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, today released an amount of Rs. 7,532 crores to 22 State Governments including Odisha for the SDRF. The amount has been released as per the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In the wake of heavy rains in many States across the country, the Centre has relaxed the guidelines and released the amount as immediate assistance to States without waiting for the utilisation certificate of the amount provided to the States in the last financial year.
The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) has been constituted in each State under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The fund is the primary fund available with State Governments for responses to notified disasters. The Central Government contributes 75% to the SDRF in general States and 90% in North-East and Himalayan States.
The annual Central contribution is released in two equal instalments as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission.
As per the guidelines, the funds are released on receipt of Utilisation Certificate of the amount released in the earlier instalment and receipt of a report from the State Government on the activities undertaken from SDRF. However, in view of the urgency, these requirements were waived while releasing the funds this time, the Finance Ministry said.
The SDRF is to be used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims of notified calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack and frost & cold wave.
Allocation of SDRF funds to the States is based on multiple factors like past expenditure, area, population, and disaster risk index. These factors reflect States’ institutional capacity, risk exposure, and hazard and vulnerability.
Based on the 15th Finance Commission recommendations, the Central Government has allocated Rs. 1,28,122.40 crore for SDRF for years 2021-22 to 2025-26. Out of this amount, the Central Government’s share is Rs.98,080.80 crore.
The Central Government had already released Rs. 34,140.00 before the current release. Till today, the total amount of Central share of SDRF released to the State Governments so far has gone up to Rs. 42,366 crores.
