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Centre utilises unspent calamity relief fund

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI DEC. 17. Even as an announcement about the demand for waiver of interest on farm loans in the drought-hit States is awaited, the Government has made the allocation from the Rs 2,000-crore relief package announced by the Task Force on Drought headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani.

Uttar Pradesh has been allocated the largest share of Rs 481.10 crores followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs. 228.30 crores), Karnataka (Rs. 221.46 crores), Rajasthan (Rs. 207.68 crores), Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 174.61 crores), Madhya Pradesh (Rs. 125.89 crores), Punjab (Rs. 125.41 crores), Orissa (Rs. 120.18 crores), Haryana (Rs. 109.65 crores), Chattisgarh (Rs. 92.73 crores), Jharkhand (Rs. 42.06 crores), Himachal Pradesh (Rs. 39.45 crores), Maharashtra (Rs 20.00 crores) and Uttranchal (Rs 10.62 crores).

The package includes the unspent amount of the States' share of the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF). The assessment was done by the Union Home Ministry in consultation with the Agriculture Ministry. Tamil Nadu had the largest percentage of unsown area (90.7 per cent) during kharif on account of drought, followed by Rajasthan (44.5), Andhra Pradesh (39.7), Uttar Pradesh (33.6), Haryana (29.6)and Karnataka (23.4).

Only seven States of the 14 drought-affected States have been given additional assistance to the tune of about Rs. 700 crores from the National Calamities Contingency Fund — Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.

The task force had allocated Rs. 11.66 crores to Rajasthan for running cattle camps. No additional allocation was made for flood relief to Assam and Bihar as the entitlements of these States were within the available balances in their CRF.

Together the 14 drought-hit States had sought about Rs 32,000 crores for drought relief. However, this was scaled down to about Rs 3,200 crores by the Central teams that visited the States for spot assessment. Later, the Inter-Ministerial Group further reduced this to Rs.1,999.14 crores, which was accepted as it is by the Task Force.

The task force will review the spending by States and further requirements in the middle of January.

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