HYDERABAD: Responding to TRS working president KT Rama Rao’s allegation in his tweet tagging the Prime Minister’s Office that neither a single rupee was granted under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to Telangana since 2018, nor did the Centre offer any relief to the floods in Hyderabad in 2020 and the recent Godavari floods, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy on Friday gave a detailed response explaining the funds released to Telangana.
Noting that 75 per cent of the State Disaster Relief Management Fund (SDRMF/SDRF) comes from the Centre, he stated that Rs 1,720 crore was released as the Centre’s share in the SDRF from 2014 till 2021-22. Also disclosing that Rs 377.60 crore was allotted to SDRF for 2022-23, Kishan said that the release of those funds were contingent upon the State government submitting Utilisation Certificates (UCs) for the previous years, which were still pending.
Revealing that the Centre had released funds amounting to Rs 873.27 crore from the NDRF from 2014 till 2017, and no fund released from 2018 through NDRF, he reminded that in case of a disaster of severe nature, funds from NDRF will be released based on the assessment done by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which will be constituted and deputed for an on the spot assessment of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations. This is provided adequate funds are not available in the SDRF.
Kishan said that the Centre’s allocation to SDRF during the floods in GHMC in 2020-21 was approximately Rs 599 crore, of which the Centre’s share was Rs 449 crore. He said that in the same year, Telangana’s SDRF already had a balance of Rs 1,500 crore of which Rs 1,200 crore was the Centre’s share. Kishan said that the existing balance was enough to cover the flood damages which were estimated by ICMT as Rs 245.96 crore.
“In Telangana, the SDRF allocation has been made, but the State government has so far not sent a request with the required certificates for release of the 1st instalment (2022-23). The Government of India will extend all required support the moment this is done,” Kishan said, in his response to the relief sought for the recent floods in Godavari.