The central government opened its treasury for disaster-stricken states, Bihar got the maximum help of Rs 588.73 crore:

A high-level committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved additional central assistance of Rs 1280. 35 crore to Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry affected by flood, cloudburst, landslide and cyclonic storm in 2024. Out of the total Rs 1280. 35 crore, Rs 588. 73 crore has been sanctioned for Bihar, Rs 136. 22 crore for Himachal Pradesh, Rs 522. 34 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs 33. 06 crore for Puducherry, an official statement said.

This assistance is in addition to the funds released by the Centre to the states in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Union Territory Disaster Response Fund (UTDRF), already held with the states and Union Territories.

Rs 33.06 crore assistance to Puducherry

The statement said that the Government of India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands shoulder to shoulder with Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry which faced natural calamities last year. The Committee approved assistance of Rs 1247. 29 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to three states - Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, subject to adjustment of 50 per cent of the opening balance for the year available in the SDRF and Rs 33. 06 crore to Puducherry.

Last year's record

During the financial year 2024-25, the central government released Rs 20,264.40 crore to 28 states under SDRF and Rs 5,160.76 crore to 19 states under NDRF. In addition, Rs 4984.25 crore has also been released to 19 states from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) and Rs 719.72 crore to eight states from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF). The statement said that the central government had deployed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) in these states immediately after the disasters without waiting for the receipt of formal memorandum.