Himachal govt received Rs 3,247 cr as disaster relief from Centre in last 3 years: Sukhu

Shimla, Aug 20 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government received Rs 3,247 crore as disaster relief from the Centre and the state government contributed Rs 330.99 crore to the fund in the last three years, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed the state assembly on Wednesday.

Replying to a query during the Question Hour, he said Himachal Pradesh received Rs 1,280.40 crore under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) from the central government, while the state contributed its share of Rs 143 crore to it.

The state received Rs 319.95 crore under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) while the state's contribution to it was Rs 35 crore, Sukhu said in response to a question by Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and Congress MLA Anuradha Rana.

Another sum of Rs 1637.84 was received under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), to which the state contributed its ten per cent share of Rs 152.44 crore.

In total, funds for disaster relief in the state amounted to Rs 3578.63 crore, which includes the state share, the chief minister informed the assembly.

Rs 403.62 crore has been released to 70,787 affected beneficiaries in the last three years. The state government also released Rs 256.57 crore to 25,916 beneficiaries under a special relief package, Sukhu added.

Distribution of relief was done as per the relief manual revised in 2023, he said, adding that a maximum of Rs 15,000 was provided per family for clothes, foodgrains, blankets, etc.

The CM said a relief of Rs 300 per bigha was being given for crop loss between 30 and 75 per cent, while Rs 12,500 was provided per house for a damaged pucca house, Rs 10,000 for a kutcha house, Rs 10,000 for shops, Rs 25,000 for the belongings in the shop and Rs 10,000 per cattle shed.

This applies to all people who were affected by disasters in 2023, 2024 and 2025, he said.

In reply to another question of Congress's Kewal Singh Pathania, the chief minister told the house that fixed deposits of various government departments worth "crores of rupees" were lying in bank accounts, inoperative for years and the government earned Rs 500 crore as interest from these deposits.

He said that secretaries of all the concerned departments have been asked to activate the accounts so that the money could be utilised for developmental works.

BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur asked a supplementary question about whether any action would be taken against officers for keeping the accounts inoperative for such a long period.

The chief minister said deposits are kept in banks as the interest rates are higher. PTI BPL SKY SKY