State disaster funds to be used for immediate relief to migrants and homeless

The Union government has asked states to loosen their purse strings and utilise the disaster relief funds available to them to meet the biggest challenge of providing healthcare and relief to migrant labourers stranded due to the lockdown . 

As images of thousands walking on the roads trying to reach their hometown have prompted  opposition parties to put pressure on the government which is battling the coronavirus threat, the home ministry has swung into action and asked states to utilise the state disaster relief funds.

The MHA wrote to chief secretaries of all states and Union territories asking them to include “provisions for temporary accommodation, food, clothing, medical care etc. for homeless people, including migrant labourers, who have been stranded due to lockdown and sheltered in relief camps” under the state disaster relief funds allocation. 

There are millions who work as migrant labourers across states. The nationwide lockdown has left many of them homeless as they are locked up in a city that has suddenly become unfriendly, with the lack of accommodation and food posing a challenge of survival. 

The disaster management division of the home ministry is closely monitoring the situation, said a senior government official.

The government has already notified COVID-19 as a biological disaster. However, according to the rules, financial assistance under SDRF/ NDRF is towards relief and not for compensation of loss as suffered or claimed. Moreover, no calamity-wise allocation is made under SDRF and states can use this allocation for 12 notified natural calamities like avalanche, cyclone, cloudburst, drought, earthquake, tsunami, fire, flood, hailstorm, landslide, pest attack and cold wave/ frost. However, 10 per cent  of the annual fund allocation of the SDRF can be used for localised state-specific natural disaster. The home ministry does not maintain a central information database on relief provided towards specific calamity-wise or item-wise to the affected persons since distribution of relief on the ground is the responsibility of the state concerned in accordance with the magnitude of the ground situation.

However, given the present situation which is unique and threatens to boil over, with more cases of COVID-19 emerging, the Centre wants states to begin utilising the disaster funds for food,  clothing, shelter, accommodation and medical care among other services.

Government sources explained that though the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the states government, the central government provides logistic and financial support to the states to supplement their efforts to meet the situation effectively. Meanwhile, if the available resources of states are found inadequate, additional financial assistance can also be extended by the central government from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).