Assam Govt. kept Rs 171 crore under SDRF for the fight against COVID-19

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State government has kept Rs 171.60 crore under SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) for the fight against COVID-19 for fiscal 2020-21. And this move taken by the State Revenue and Disaster Management department is in sync with the guidelines issued by the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority).

The Rs 171.60 crore SDRF fund for this fiscal is 25 percent of the total SDRF allocation to the State for fiscal 2020-21 which is Rs 686.40 crore. And the Centre has already released Rs 386 crore of the total allocation to the State as the first SDRF installment. The SDRF funding pattern is 90:10 (90 percent of the total amount is paid by the Centre and the State government has to pay only 10 percent as its matching amount).

According to the Revenue and Disaster Management department, this Rs 171.60-crore COVID-19 funds is not meant to be used for purposes like treatment of patients. It is meant to be used for quarantining people, paying gratuity relief during the lockdown etc.

The department has further said that so far Rs 99 crore has been released from this fund, and if more than Rs 171.60 crore is required, it will have to rethink.

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