No help has been received from Central for the current disaster in Himachal: Jagat Singh Negi

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi has rebuffed the Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur and leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur’s claims regarding the financial assistance of Rs. 400 crores by the Central government to the state during the present disaster.

In a statement issued here today, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that till now no help has been received from the Central Government for the current disaster in Himachal Pradesh. He said that an amount of Rs. 360 crore was released annually by the Central Government to the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), which was the quarterly share received by the State from the Central Budget. He said that every year Himachal Pradesh gets its share of Rs. 360 crore in SDRF in the ratio of 90:10 in two installments in the months of June and December. The Central Government has given both these installments to the State Government in the month of July this year. The second installment was released to the state in lieu of the damages caused during snowfall in December, which has been released earlier by the central government this time. He said that Himachal Pradesh’s outstanding funds of Rs. 315 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) were lying with the Central Government, which should be released at the earliest.

The Revenue Minister made it clear that no funds have been released by the Central Government to Himachal for the situation arising out of the disaster during this monsoon season. He said that Anurag Thakur as a Union Minister and Jai Ram Thakur as a former Chief Minister must know the facts and should not lie to the people of the state.

Jagat Singh Negi said that there has been a huge loss of government and private property in the state during this tragedy. Along with power and water projects, roads have also suffered heavy damage, which would likely to take more than a year to restore. He said that the state government has written a letter to the Central Government to release an interim relief of Rs. 2000 crore.  He said that the Central Government should have to release this amount as soon as possible.

He said that Himachal has witnessed a terrible tragedy, in such a situation, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur must leave aside their political motives and should help the state government to get this amount from the Government of India.