: Mumbai, 2^nd December, 2025

As per the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM), the primary responsibility for disaster management, including disbursal of relief assistance at the ground level, rests with the respective State Governments. These Governments undertake relief measures in the wake of natural calamities from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), which is placed at their disposal along with items and norms approved by the Government of India. The Central Government supplements their efforts by providing necessary logistics and financial support. In cases of disasters of a ‘severe nature’, additional financial assistance is provided from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per the laid-down procedure, which includes assessment through an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

The details of the fund allocated and released under SDRF/NDRF to the State of Maharashtra is as under:

State	Fund allocated / released under SDRF (Central Share + State Share) in the last five years (Rs. in crores)
Year	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26
Maharashtra	3436.80	3608.80	3788.80	3978.40	4176.80

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare monitors and coordinates relief measures in situations such as drought, hailstorm, pest attack, and cold wave or

For effective drought management, the Manual for Drought Management, originally published in 2009, was revised in December 2016 to incorporate modern technology.

As reported by the Government of Maharashtra, irregularities involving the misuse of a Tehsildar’s login credentials were detected during the disbursement of relief funds in 2023-24. A three-member committee appointed by the Collector of Jalna investigated two talukas and submitted a preliminary report confirming the misuse. Consequently, the State Government directed the Divisional Commissioner, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Division, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all complaints in Jalna district. Based on the committee’s findings, 21 Gram Revenue Officers (Talathis) and Revenue Clerks have been suspended, while Departmental Enquiries have been initiated against 36 Gram Revenue Officers (Talathis), 17 Gram Panchayat Officers (Gram Sevaks), and 2 Agriculture Assistants. As per Provision 3.6 of the Drought Manual, State Governments must ensure the disbursement of agricultural input subsidy to affected farmers within one month from the date of receipt of Central assistance under NDRF, and ensure that Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is used for efficient and transparent fund transfer.

This information was provided by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Ramnath Thakur, in a written reply to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha today.

 

PIB Mumbai | Sriyanka Chatterjee/ Edgar Coelho/ Priti Malandkar

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