NEW DELHI: The Centre has released the Central Assistance to the tune of Rs 2014.45 crore for Tamil Nadu.
“The assistance to Tamil Nadu includes Rs 1748.28 crore for drought (Kharif), Rs 264.11 crore for cyclonic storm 'Vardha' and Rs 2.06 crore under National Rural Drinking Water Programme,” Union Home Ministry said in a statement on Saturday adding the amount was released yesterday.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had chaired a High Level Committee meeting for the approving the assistance to Tamil Nadu on March 23.
The Government of Tamil Nadu had submitted memoranda seeking Central Assistance in the wake of drought and cyclonic storm 'Vardha' -2016 in the State.
The Centre had sent an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to Tamil Nadu to assess the situation. On the recommendations of the IMCT and the Sub Committee of the National Executive Committee, the HLC had approved the central assistance on March 23.
Based on the approval of the HLC, the Centre had sanctioned Rs.1793.63 crore to Tamil Nadu and Rs.1,782.44 crore to State of Karnataka for drought relief from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
Based on the HLC sanctions, a sum of Rs.1447.99 crore has been released to Tamil Nadu by the Central Government from NDRF after adjusting Rs.345.64 crore available with the State as balance in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
For State of Karnataka, after adjusting Rs.96.92 crore available with the State as balance in the SDRF and earlier release of Rs 450 crore by the Central Government, sum of Rs 1,235.52 crore has been released from NDRF, the Ministry said.
The HLC had also advised the State Governments to take utmost care and ensure that all the individual beneficiary-oriented assistance is mandatorily disbursed through the bank account of the beneficiaries.
These release of the amounts are over and above the funds made available to the States as devolution of 42 per cent of Central Taxes as per the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission. For the year 2016-17, a sum of Rs 6.08 lakh crore has been released to all States as devolution of Central Taxes. Tamil Nadu has received Rs 24,538 crore and Karnataka has received Rs 28,750 crore under devolution formula during 2016-17, the Home Ministry said.
During 2016-17, the Central Government has also provided Rs 48,869 crore to all the States as grant for Rural and Urban Local Bodies to primarily meet the requirement of basic necessities for people living in these areas.
For the benefit of farmers, Rs 13,240 crore has been provided under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana (PMFBY) in 2016-17.
Also, Rs 2,45,435 crore has been provided under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) for transfer to the States from the Central Government during 2016-17. This includes Rs.47,499 crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) which is used for employment generation and water conservation works.
In view of onset of the summer season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has instructed that in the next three months, all the States should focus on water conservation related works by utilizing the funds available under various Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) and MGNREGS among others, the statement added.