On January 6, 2020,A High Level Committee (HLC) led by the Union Minister for Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah, has released Rs. 5908.56 crore to 7 states including Assam, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh(MP), Maharashtra, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh (UP) to help in the losses suffered by various disasters in 2019.
Key Points:
i.The amount was released to seven states under additional central assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in the high-level meeting held in New Delhi.
The funds have been allocated as per the following manner,
| S.No | State Name | Assistance |
| 1 | Assam | Rs. 616.63 crore |
| 2 | Himachal Pradesh | Rs. 284.93 crore |
| 3 | Karnataka | Rs. 1869.85 crore |
| 4 | Madhya Pradesh | Rs. 1749.73 crore |
| 5 | Maharashtra | Rs. 956.93 crore |
| 6 | Tripura | Rs. 63.32 crore |
| 7 | Uttar Pradesh | Rs 367.17 crore |
ii.Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, along with senior officials from Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance, Agriculture and NITI (National Institution for Transforming India ) Aayog were also present in the meeting.
iii.Earlier, the union government had released financial assistance of Rs 3200 crore to 4 states, including Rs 1200 crore to Karnataka, Rs 1,000 crore to Madhya Pradesh, Rs 600 crore to Maharashtra and Rs 400 crore to Bihar. The government has released Rs 8068.33 crore to 27 states from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) during the financial Year (FY) 2019-20.
About NDRF:
Formed– 2006
Headquarters– New Delhi
Motto– Saving Lives & Beyond
Minister responsible– Amit Shah
It is a specialized force formed for the sake of providing expert and dedicated response to a disaster or a threatening disaster situation.
