Centre announces Rs 218.40 crore relief package for Punjab
Punjab E News: The central government has announced a relief package of Rs 218.40 crore for Punjab. This amount has been released as per the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs in which Rs 7,532 crore is being given to 22 state governments.
The amount has been released as immediate assistance to the states without waiting for utilization certificates of the amount provided to them in the last financial year in the wake of heavy rains. SDRF has been constituted in each state under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The central government contributes 75% to the SDRF in general states and 90% in the north-east and Himalayan states.
The annual central contribution will be released in two equal installments as recommended by the Finance Commission.
As per the directions, funds are released on receipt of utilization certificate of the amount released in the previous installment and receipt of report from the state government on the activities undertaken by SDRF. But this time, given the circumstances, these requirements have been waived while issuing this package.