A high-level committee, headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved the release of an additional Rs 1,816 crore to five states including Karnataka as central natural disaster assistance with which they are faced. According to an official statement, aid will be provided to Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Nagaland for floods, landslides and waterspouts that occurred in 2022.

The HLC under Shah’s chairmanship approved additional central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five states, according to the statement.

It shows the determination of the Union government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the people of five states who faced these natural disasters, he said.

While Assam will receive Rs 520,466 crore, Himachal Pradesh will receive Rs 239.31 crore and Karnataka Rs 941.04 crore, he said.

He added that Rs 47,326 crore has been approved for Meghalaya and Rs 68.02 crore for Nagaland.

This additional assistance is in addition to funds released by the Center to states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), which is already available to states, he said.

In the financial year 2022-23, the central government released Rs 15,770.40 crore to 25 states in their SDRF and Rs 502,744 crore to four states from the NDRF.

The central government has delegated Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these states immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of a memorandum from them, the statement added.