UP gets Rs 14,246 crore for disaster management

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 11, 2021

In an acknowledgement of the disaster management readiness shown by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Centre has approved a robust package of Rs 14,246 crore for the state.

Earlier, the 15th Finance Commission had made a proposal of Rs 14,246 crore for UP pertaining to the next five years. The funds will be utilised to deal with natural calamities viz. extreme precipitation and floods, famines and droughts, fire outbreaks, earthquakes, unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms. 

According to the revenue department, on the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission, the UP government had received Rs 3,729 crore in five years between the financial years of 2015-16 to 2019-20.

This way, the 15th Finance Commission has recommended four times more funds to UP, which indicated greater confidence in the efficiency and probity of the state machinery.

The 15th Finance Commission has approved Rs 2,578 crore for 2021-22, Rs 2,707 crore for 2022-23, Rs 2,842 crore for 2023-24, Rs 2,985 crore for 2024-25 and Rs 3,134 crore for 2025-26.

In fact, UP accounts for the maximum allocation of the Disaster Response Fund after Maharashtra which will receive the highest Rs 23,737 crore in five years followed by UP with a purse of Rs 14,246 crore.

Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar are next in the tally with allocations of Rs 13,411 crore, Rs 11,819 crore, Rs 10,913 crore and Rs 10,432 respectively.

Meanwhile, the Centre and state share of 75:25 in disaster risk management will remain the same as earlier. Therefore, the Centre will contribute Rs 10,685 crore to UP in the next five years, while the state will contribute an amount of Rs 3,561 crore.