TNN | Jan 31, 2015, 04.16 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday sanctioned over Rs 1,100 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund to help the Jammu and Kashmir government restore public infrastructure damaged during the floods last year. An additional Rs 20 crore was approved under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme for restoration of drinking water systems in the state.
The approvals followed a meeting between home minister Rajnath Singh and J&K governor N N Vohra here to discuss the contours of the Rs 41,000 crore special package sought by the state government in view of the devastation caused by the floods.
Home secretary Anil Goswami said after the meeting that the decisions taken included sanctioning Rs 1,102.56 crore to meet the expenditure incurred by the state government for immediate restoration of public infrastructure and Rs 20 crore for restoration of drinking water system. Rs 634.99 crore has already been spent towards immediate rehabilitation of the flood-affected, including Rs 144.85 crore towards food subsidy, Rs 35.67 crore on restoration of highways and roads, Rs 25.41 crore towards petroleum products, Rs 2.52 crore for milk products and Rs 1.54 crore for medicines.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Diwali visit to J&K last year, had announced a grant of Rs 765 crore from the PM's National Relief Fund and another Rs 1,000 crore as special assistance for reconstruction of damaged public infrastructure. Singh and Vohra on Friday reviewed utilisation of these funds.
Regarding the Rs 41,000 crore special package sought by the J&K government, the meeting decided that home ministry would be the nodal authority for all further decisions regarding schemes proposed by the state.
As for the Rs 570 crore grant announced by Modi during his visit to Srinagar, it was noted that after disbursing Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 compensation for fully damaged pucca and kucha houses, certain funds would be left unused. The home minister, as suggested by the governor, has agreed to discuss the matter with the prime minister and get an early concurrence for utilisation of the available funds and to suitably compensate owners of severely and partially damaged pucca/kucha houses.
Vohra and Singh also discussed issues relating to border management. Singh has directed home secretary Goswami to visit Jammu next week to review the progress of all border development related schemes.