Central assistance of Rs 7,214 cr for Puducherry, 6 states

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday announced additional assistance of Rs 7,214 crore to six states and Puducherry that were affected by natural disasters during 2018-19.

The decision was taken by a high-level committee chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and will cater to the needs of those states that have faced floods, landslides, drought, cloudburst and cyclone.

“The committee approved the additional central assistance of Rs 7,214 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF),” said a Home Ministry statement.

Of the total, the committee has decided to provide Rs 317.44 crore to Himachal Pradesh (floods and landslides), Rs 191.73 crore to Uttar Pradesh (floods), Rs 900.40 crore to Andhra Pradesh (drought), Rs 127.60 crore to Gujarat (drought), Rs 949.49 crore to Karnataka (drought), Rs 4,714.28 crore to Maharashtra (drought) and Rs 13.09 crore to Puducherry (cyclone).

Union Ministers Piyush Goel, Radha Mohan Singh and senior officers of the Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance, Agriculture and NITI Aayog were present in the meeting.

[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]