Hyderabad: At the time that the state suffered huge losses due to severe flooding and sought immediate assistance of Rs.2,000 crore, the Centre asked it to first spend Rs.1345.15 crore that it gave the state government over the last few years towards disaster relief.
The Centre has treated the amount as “unspent” in the absence of the state government submitting utilisation certificates (UC). It offered to release the current fiscal’s first installment of Rs.208.4 crore immediately if the state government sent a request along with the proof of crediting its matching share to the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) account, up-to-date statement of expenditure along with UCs and the balance amount available in the SDRF.
The Centre was responding to a request made by Union minister G. Kishan Reddy and Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay to Union home minister Amit Shah for release of Central assistance. While the state government cried foul over the Centre’s move, which it said was a resultant of the previous BRS government’s failure, the BRS took on Congress for not getting the first installment of Rs.208 crore so far.
The Centre’s communiqué clearly exposed the failure of the revenue (disaster management) top officials, including special chief secretary Arvind Kumar. The Centre categorically said it did not receive any formal situation report so far in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) control room as per established procedure. Sources said the absence of Arvind Kumar for a long period in the department resulted in the piling up of crucial paper work that would have helped the state government get the SDRF first instalment.
State government officials orally communicated information about the damage caused by the rain in Khammam, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mahbubnagar, Suryapet, Warangal and Mahbubabad districts.
Official sources told this correspondent that a high level meeting held by Chief Secretary A. Shanti Kumari anticipated the Centre’s move but could not do much because of the previous BRS government allegedly diverted the funds. “As there was not much requirement for relief, the previous government used funds for other purposes,” a senior official told the meeting.
However, senior BRS leader and former minister T. Harish Rao termed the letter from the MHA “shocking”, and said that it “exposed the complete failure of the Congress government in submitting situation.”
Harish Rao, in a tweet, said the letter revealed that the Rs.208.4 crore SDRF amount for June 2024 could not be released by the Centre as the state government did not submit the UC for the funds already lying with it. The Congress government was not just delaying critical funds that could bring immediate relief but it was also ignoring the suffering of the people, Harish Rao said.
Meanwhile, Ashish V. Gawai, director, (disaster management-1) wrote a letter to Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari stating that the Centre did not receive a situation report on natural disasters and requisite documents for release of the Central share of SDRF money The Centre also sought daily situation reports on natural disasters.
Maintaining that the UCs have to be submitted in April and October every year, Gawai said the Centre held back the release of Rs.208 crore due to non-submission of UCs by the state government. Funds will be released as soon as the state government submits them.
