Rs 574-Crore State Disaster Response Fund Left with Revenue and Disaster Management

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: State Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) department claims to have Rs 574.55-crore SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) with it now. While Rs 323 crore was carried forward from fiscal 2018-19, the department has received Rs 251.55 crore from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently as the first SDRF installment. An equal amount is to be released by the MHA as its second SDRF installment.

Now the department is to move the State Finance Department for its 10 per cent matching share. The total SDRF allocation for fiscal 2019-20 is Rs 559 crore.

Meanwhile, the Revenue & Disaster Management Department released Rs 6.37 crore as gratuity relief (GR) for flood-affected people. And with this, Rs 80.32 crore is left with deputy commissioners and civil SDOs for gratuity relief. The DCs and SDOs had Rs 12 crore carried forward from the previous fiscal. A total of Rs 68.32 crore was released by the department for gratuity relief this fiscal, so far.

According to the Revenue & Disaster Management department, while Rs 4.87 crore is left with Barpeta district, Rs 2.82 crore is left with Cachar district, Rs 2.85 crore with Darrang district, Rs 3.02 crore with Dhemaji district, Rs 3.47 crore with Dhubri district, Rs 4.06 crore with Majuli district and Rs 2.53 crore with North Salmara subdivision.

Meanwhile, State Finance Minister’s liberal approach in extending flood relief has been echoed when the Revenue and Disaster Management department has also asked the deputy commissioners and civil SDOs not to be miserly in flood relief. The department has asked the DCs and the SDOs to pay Rs 3,800 to each flood-affected family while leaving a relief camp for the purchase of cloths and utensils. According to the norm of assistance from the SDRF with effect from April 8, 2015 (relief manual), Rs 1,800 is for cloths and Rs 2,000 is for utensils.

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