Question : Assistance to Farmers during Natural Calamities

(a) whether the Government provides any assistance to the farmers of Bihar during natural calamities;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the assistance provided to Bihar at the Central level during the last three years;

(c) whether there has been undue delay in providing assistance and relief work during natural calamities in Bihar; and

(d) the reaction of the Government thereto along with the norms and rules of procedure to provide assistance and relief work to farmers of the States during natural calamities?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)


(a): The primary responsibility of disaster management rests with the State Governments. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments and provides requisite logistics and financial support. For providing relief to the affected people, including farmers, in case of 12 notified natural disasters, State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)



-2-
L.S.US.Q.NO.3301 FOR 16.03.2021

is placed at the disposal of the State Governments, including State Government of Bihar. Additional financial assistance is extended from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), as per the established procedure in case of disaster of ‘severe nature’.

(b): Details of the funds, released to the State Government of Bihar during the financial year 2018-19 to 2020-21 from SDRF and NDRF, is as under:-
(Rs. in Crore)
Financial Year Centre’s Share of SDRF Released Fund released from NDRF
2018-19 101.815 --
2019-20 631.12 953.17 for Floods
2020-21
(as on10.03.2021) 1416.00 1255.27 for Floods


(c) and (d): The distribution of relief assistance, to the affected people at the ground, is the responsibility of the State Government. The State Government provides relief assistance to the farmers in the form of input subsidy in case of damages to crops due to natural calamity as per the Government of India’s items and norms which are available on MHA website https://ndmindia.mha.gov.in/images/pdf/SDRF-NDRFNorms-dated8april2015.pdf.
*****