Chief Secretary, Iqbal Khandey has welcomed the decision of the Union Government to enhance the assistance under the revised norms of SDRF.Under the revised norms notified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (Disaster Management Division) and are effective from 1st April 2015, the scale of ex-gratia relief admissible under various categories has been significantly enhanced. Chairing the State Executive Committee of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) here on Friday, the Chief Secretary reviewed the progress involving settlement of claims on account of damage to public and private property across the state due to september-2014 floods and other subsequent natural calamities.
He also reviewed the progress of expenditure under the SDRF on account of search & rescue operations, relief measures, clearance of affected areas (debris and garbage disposal), immediate repair/ restoration of infrastructure etc during and after these natural disasters.Commissioner Secretary, Relief & Rehabilitation, Dheeraj Gupta, informed the committee that during 2014-15, an amount of Rs 1079 cr was released to both the Divisional Commissioners and other departments, out of which Rs 556.92 cr have been expended upto 1st July 2015, on account of relief & rescue works and settling claims under various categories.
Meanwhile, the State Executive Committee sanctioned release of payment under SDRF to settle remaining claims received by Divisional Commissioners, Kashmir and other departments on account of September, 2014 and March-2015 floods.
Both the Divisional Commissioners and respective departments were also urged to submit the utilization certificates of the amount expended at the earliest.Chief Secretary also asked for early submission of the loss assessment reports on account of damage to Rabi Crops and damage to public and private property and other infrastructure due to recent disasters so that relief can be sanctioned under SDRF.The meeting was attended Principal Secretary Planning & Development, B. R. Sharma, Principal Secretary Home, R K Goyal, Director General of Police, K Rajendra, Commissioner Secretary, Commissioner Secretary H&UD, Bipul Pathak, Commissioner Secretary Finance, Navin K Choudhary, Commissioner Secretary, PWD, Rohit Kansal, Divisional Commissioners Jammu/ Kashmir, other Administrative Secretaries and senior officers.