Lok Sabha Question No. 24 (STARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: Natural Disaster Relief
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Krupal Balaji Tumane

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *24

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2021/ AGRAHAYANA 9, 1943 (SAKA)

NATURAL DISASTER RELIEF

*24.      SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  made  any  changes  in  the  criteria  relating  to natural disaster relief and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to allow the disaster affected persons to receive assistance at district level in a time bound manner as per the prevalent procedure and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has received any such proposal and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government thereon;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to provide any 'special assistance' as per immediate requirement in the matter of such urgent cases; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## LS.US.Q.NO. *24 FOR 30.11.2021

## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *24 DATED 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2021

(a) to  (c): The primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State  Governments.    The  State  Governments  provide  financial  relief  to  the affected  people  in  the  wake  of  notified  disasters,  from  the  State  Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) already placed at their disposal.  However, in the event of disaster of a severe nature, additional financial assistance is extended from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per the laid down procedure, which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

The release of funds from SDRF/NDRF and expenditure therefrom are governed by the 'Guidelines on constitution and administration of SDRF/ NDRF' and items and  norms  issued  by  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA),  from  time  to  time. The funds in SDRF are contributed by the Central Government and State Governments  in  the  ratio  of  75:25  for  general  category  states  and  90:10  for North-Eastern  and  Himalayan  States  to  undertake  the  relief  measures  in  the wake of natural disasters.

The Central Government releases its share of SDRF to State Governments in two installments (1 st  in June and 2 nd  in December) as per the established procedure. The  responsibility  for  distribution  of  relief,  to  the  affected  people  at  the  local level, is of the State Government concerned.

The  15 th   Finance  Commission  (FC)  had  adopted  a  new  methodology  for  statewise allocations of funds, which replaces the expenditure driven methodology. The  new  methodology  is  a  combination  of  capacity  (as  reflected  through expenditure), risk exposure (area and population) and hazard and vulnerably (risk index).  In a major departure from the earlier Finance Commissions, the 15 th  FC had  recommended  two  funds  with  the  nomenclature  of  State  Disaster  Risk Management  Fund  (SDRMF)  and  National  Disaster  Risk  Management  Fund (NDRMF).  SDRMF will consist of two components viz. SDRF and State Disaster Mitigation  Fund  (SDMF)  with  the  allocation  in  the  proportion  of  80%  and  20% respectively.  Similarly, NDRMF will also have two components namely NDRF and NDMF  with  allocation  in  the  same  proportion.    The  Commission  had  also recommended that,  within  the  SDRF/NDRF  allocations  of  80%,  there  would  be three sub-allocations namely, Response and Relief (40%), Recovery and Reconstruction (30%) and Preparedness and Capacity Building (10%).  As such, SDRMF  and  NDRMF  will  cover  the  entire  cycle  of  disaster  management -prevention, preparedness, response, mitigation, recovery and reconstruction.

(d) & (e): In view of the exigencies, the Central Government can release its share of SDRF, in advance.  During the current financial year i.e. 2021-22, the Central Government has released both the installments of its share of SDRF, amounting to  Rs.  17,747.20  crore,  in  advance,  to  all  States  in  order  to  facilitate  them  to provide  assistance  to  disaster  affected  people.    Further,  in  the  aftermath  of  a calamity,  having   severe   impact   and  when  funds   available  with   the  State

Government  are  not  found  sufficient; the  Central  Government  provides  funds from NDRF, in advance,  without waiting for the assessment of IMCT, so as to enable the State to provide immediate relief assistance to the affected people at the local level. During the current year 2021-22, in the aftermath of cyclones 'Tauktae'  and  'Yaas',  funds  had  been  rele ased  in  advance  by  the  Central

## Government from NDRF as under:

|   Sl.No. | Name of State   |   Amount (Rs. in crore) |
|----------|-----------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | Gujarat         |                    1000 |
|        2 | Odisha          |                     500 |
|        3 | West Bengal     |                     300 |
|        4 | Jharkhand       |                     200 |

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