Why in News?

• The Centre has enhanced its contribution in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 75 per cent to 90 per cent with effect from April, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced. As per revised guidelines, the Centre will contribute 90 per cent while states will contribute 10 per cent to the relief fund.

About the News:

• The additional contribution by the central government in SDRF on this account will be Rs 1,690.35 crore for 2018-19 and Rs 1,774.67 crore for the financial year 2019-20.
• Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, a financial mechanism has been set up by way of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at the national level and SDRF at the state level to meet the rescue and relief expenditure of disaster-affected states
• The SDRF has been constituted in each state in which the Centre, till date, has been contributing 75 per cent to states belonging to the general category and 90 per cent to those belonging to the special category, such as the hilly regions, the statement read. At any point, each state government has a fair amount of funds available under the SDRF.
• In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, additional financial assistance, as per norms, is provided by the central government from NDRF, in which 100 per cent funding is by the central government.
• Based on the recommendations of successive Finance Commission, the Centre approves the annual allocation to SDRF. On the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission, the government has significantly enhanced the allocation to SDRF by 82.30 per cent i.e. from Rs 33,580.93 crore during 2010-11 to 2014-15 to Rs 61,220 crore for 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• In addition, the central government has provided additional financial assistance of Rs 32,142 crore from NDRF to the states during 2014-2018 compared to Rs 14,098 crore provided during 2010-2014, which is also significantly higher.

NDRF:

• National Disaster Response Fund is defined in Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) as a fund managed by the Central Government for meeting the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation due to any threatening disaster situation or disaster.
• NDRF is constituted to supplement the funds of the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) of the states to facilitate immediate relief in case of calamities of a severe nature.