Center releases disaster relief funds for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Subject: Polity

Sec: National Body

Context:

The Union government has ordered the release of ₹3,730.32 crore towards “relief assistance for natural calamity” from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

More on news:

An order by the Finance Ministry said that the amount is being released to the State governments based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on April 24.
For the damage caused by Cyclone Michaung in December 2023 and the floods later in the month in southern Tamil Nadu, the MHA approved an assistance of ₹285.54 crore and ₹397.13 crore respectively.

About State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF):

SDRF has been constituted by each state under the provisions of Disaster Management act 2005.
It was constituted based on the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission.
The government of India contributes 75% and 90% of the total yearly allocation of SDRF to general states and special category states respectively.
The state executive committee headed by the Chief Secretary is authorized to decide on all matters relating to the financing of the relief expenditure from the SDRF.
Disaster (s) covered under SDRF: Cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold waves.
The SDRF is the primary fund available with State governments as part of their response to notified disasters to meet expenditure on providing immediate relief to victims.
The Centre contributes 75% of the SDRF allocation for general category States and Union Territories and 90% for special category States (northeastern States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir).
As per Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the NDRF supplements the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in case of a disaster of severe nature, provided adequate funds are not available in the SDRF.
The States have to submit utilization certificates, pending which no future allocation is made.

About National Disaster Response Fund:

Defined under sec 46 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act).
It is a fund managed by the Central Government for meeting the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation due to any threatening disaster situation or disaster.
Constituted to supplement the funds of the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) of the states to facilitate immediate relief in case of calamities of a severe nature.
National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) was renamed as National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) with the enactment of the Disaster Management Act in 2005.