HYDERABAD: Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said that the Centre has released approximately Rs 3,000 crore in the last eight years and more than Rs 1,500 crore since 2018 for overall disaster relief in Telangana.
Kishan Reddy said that he wished to clear the air as the TRS has been making several “misleading” statements about the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). He said that the TRS leaders have also been falsely claiming that the Government of India has provided no relief in the 2020 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) floods nor in the 2022 Godavari floods.
“During the floods in the GHMC limits in 2020-21, the allocation to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) was approximately Rs 599 crore of which the Centre’s share was Rs 449 crore,” the Union Minister said. He said that during the time of Hyderabad floods, SDRF had a balance of over Rs 1,500 crore.
Explaining how NDRF funds will be allocated, Kishan Reddy said that providing financial assistance for disaster preparedness, restoration, reconstruction and mitigation in the event of a natural disaster are not part of the National Disaster Response Fund’s mandate.
In the event of a calamity of a severe nature, where the requirement of funds for relief operations is beyond the funds available in the State’s Disaster Response Fund account, additional Central assistance is provided from National Disaster Response Fund, after the visit of interministerial team following a request from State government, he stated.
He said that the Centre contributed its share of Rs 205.5 crore in 2015-16, 216 crore in 2016-17, Rs 226.5 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 487.5 crore in 2019-20 for SDRF. Also, the Centre has given Rs 468.2 crore in 2015-16, Rs 328.16 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 58.4 crore in 2017-18.