New Delhi: A month after Karnataka and Tamil Nadu’s governments moved the Supreme Court for the release of disaster relief funds, the Union government ordered the release of Rs 3,730.32 crore to the two southern states from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
But both state governments are unhappy, saying the allocation was much below the amount required as per guidelines.
The Hindu reported that the finance ministry ordered the amount to be released to the state governments based on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s recommendation on April 24.
Earlier, on March 23, Karnataka petitioned the Supreme Court to ask the Union government to release drought relief funds that had been delayed despite an inter-ministerial team submitting its report five months ago.
The Tamil Nadu government also approached the apex court on April 3 for the release of relief funds for the victims of Cyclone Michaung and severe floods.
According to The Hindu, the MHA approved Rs 3,498.82 crore in assistance for Karnataka due to drought in 2023.
However, the actual amount to be released from the NDRF was Rs 3,454.22 crore as stated in the order.
Similarly, the MHA sanctioned Rs 285.54 crore and Rs 397.13 crore for the damages caused by Cyclone Michaung in December 2023 and the subsequent floods in Tamil Nadu later that month.
However, the total funds disbursed under the NDRF were Rs 115.49 crore and Rs 160.61 crore, respectively.
Additionally, the order mentioned Rs 44.60 crore for Karnataka and Rs 406.57 crore for Tamil Nadu as 50% of the funds available in their respective State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) accounts as of April 1, 2023.
According to Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, the NDRF supplements SDRFs in the event of a severe disaster, provided that sufficient funds are not available in the latter.
The SDRF serves as the primary fund for state governments to address notified disasters and cover immediate relief expenses for victims.
The Union government contributes 75% of the SDRF allocation for general category states and Union territories, while special category states (including the northeastern states, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) receive a 90% contribution.
After the Union government announced the release of the amount, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah expressed his dissatisfaction, stating that the amount released was far below what was expected under NDRF guidelines.
Estimating total damages from the drought in the state to be around Rs 35,000 crore, he said in Kalaburagi on Saturday (April 28) that Karnataka had submitted a drought report to the Union government in September 2023 expecting an allocation of Rs 18,172 crore as per NDRF norms for drought relief measures.
The slated release of Rs 3,454 crore from the NDRF is significantly less than a quarter of the expected amount.
Expressing his frustration with the situation, Siddaramaiah criticised finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for suggesting that Karnataka had sought funds for his government’s ‘guarantee’ schemes instead of drought relief.
He clarified that the state had never requested funds for such schemes and would not do so in the future, emphasising the need for proper allocation as per the NDRF guidelines.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin also stated that Tamil Nadu had asked for Rs 37,907 crore flood relief from the Union government, but that the latter’s announced Rs 276 crore only, that too after the state government approached the court.
“Centre’s announcement has proved that Tamil Nadu would neither get justice nor finance. People are closely watching the betrayal of the Centre,” he wrote on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
Stalin said the state government had so far spent Rs 2,477 crore to provide immediate relief and built infrastructure.