Union Ministry of Home Affairs revised norms for State Disaster Relief Fund

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 8 April 2015 issued an order for revision of norms with regard to the centrally notified disasters including flood, cyclone, drought, hailstorm, tsunami and earthquake.

As per the issued order of MHA,
• State governments are permitted to spend up to 10 percent of allocation under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) on equipment.
• A maximum of 5 percent of SDRF allocation can be spent on capacity building.
• The state governments are allowed to use up to 10 percent of their SDRF allocation on local disasters.
• Procedure for adjustment of available balances under SDRF while releasing assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in case of severe disasters is simplified.
• Norms will be updated annually in relation to the movement of wholesale price index in automatic mode.
• Ex-gratia in case of loss of lives, disability and livelihoods due to disasters is revised.

About State Disaster Relief Fund

Constitution of the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) at the State level is provided under the Section 48 (I) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The fund from the SDRF is used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to the disaster-affected persons.

The contribution towards the fund is made in accordance with the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) headed by Vijay L Kelkar. Of the total contribution recommended by TFC, 75 percent is contributed by the Union Government for the General Category States (GCS) and 90 percent for Special Category States (SCS). The contribution of Union Government to the funds is in the form of Grants-in-aid.