Centre approves Rs 1,115 crore to states for disaster mitigation, capacity-building projects
New Delhi (PTI): A high-level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved Rs 1,000 crore for various disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects in 15 states.
The committee also approved another project for training and capacity building of civil defence volunteers in all states and Union territories at a total outlay of Rs 115.67 crore, according to an official statement.
According to an official statement, a sum of Rs 139 crore each was approved for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Rs 100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs 72 crore each for Karnataka and Kerala, Rs 50 crore each for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and Rs 378 crore for the eight Northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
The committee, comprising Union ministers for finance and agriculture and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog as members, considered the proposal to mitigate landslide risk in 15 states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).
Another proposal for training and capacity building of civil defence volunteers in all states and UT's under-preparedness and capacity building from the funding window of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) was also considered, it said.
Earlier, the committee approved Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven cities at a total outlay of Rs 3075.65 crore and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk management projects in four states at a total outlay of Rs 150 crore from the NDMF.
To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of disaster resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country, the statement said.
Several steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss of life and property during disasters by strengthening the disaster risk reduction system in India, it said.
Under the Modi government, more than Rs 21,476 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This includes Rs 14,878.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 states, Rs 4,637.66 crore from the NDRF to 15 states, Rs 1,385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 states and Rs 574.93 crore from NDMF to six states.
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
