(a) the details of guidelines for declaring a disaster as a natural calamity;
(b) whether loss suffered due to cyclone arising from specific area may be considered a natural calamity;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor;
(d) whether the affected State is provided special assistance in case of natural calamity; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)
(a) to (e) Government has issued guidelines for operation of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) which have been created under the Disaster Management Act 2005, to provide financial assistance for emergency response and relief. Under these guidelines immediate relief is provided to victims of 12 notified natural disasters (viz; cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, and
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L.S.US.Q.NO. 2563 FOR 09.07.2019
frost & cold wave). In view of the aforesaid guidelines, loss suffered due to cyclone is considered a natural calamity for the purpose of providing financial assistance under SDRF/ NDRF. The aforesaid guidelines have PAN (Presence Across National) India implication without any discrimination. Further, under the existing guidelines of SDRF/ NDRF, there is no provision to provide any special assistance/ relief package for the affected State.
Further, State Government may use up to 10 per cent of the annual fund allocation under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be ‘disasters’ within the local context in the State and which are not included in the notified list of disasters.
The guidelines and items & norms of assistance from SDRF/ NDRF are available on the Ministry of Home Affairs website: www.ndmindia.nic.in.
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