Himachal Pradesh Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi has rebuffed Union Minister Anurag Singh and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur’s claim regarding the financial assistance of Rs 400 crore by the Central government to the state during the present disaster.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Negi said that till now no help has been received from the Central Government for the current disaster in Himachal Pradesh.

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He said that an amount of Rs 360 crore was released annually by the Central Government to the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), which was the quarterly share received by the state from the Central Budget.

“Every year Himachal Pradesh gets its share of Rs 360 crore in SDRF in the ratio of 90:10 in two installments in the months of June and December. The Central Government has given both these installments to the state government in the month of July this year,” he said.

He added that the second installment was released to the state in lieu of the damages caused during snowfall in December, which has been released earlier by the Central government this time.

Himachal Pradesh’s outstanding funds of Rs 315 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) were lying with the Central Government, which should be released at the earliest, he demanded.

“No funds have been released by the Central Government to Himachal for the situation arising out of the disaster during this monsoon season,” clarified the Minister.

He said that Anurag Thakur as a Union Minister and Jai Ram Thakur as a former Chief Minister must know the facts and should not lie to the people of the state.

Negi said that there has been a huge loss of government and private property in the state during this tragedy.

Along with power and water projects, roads have also suffered heavy damage, which would likely take more than a year to restore.

He said that the state government has written a letter to the Central Government to release an interim relief of Rs. 2000 crore.

The Central Government should have to release this amount as soon as possible, he added.

Himachal has witnessed a terrible tragedy. In such a situation, Union Minister Anurag Thakur and Jai Ram Thakur must leave aside their political motives and should help the state government to get this amount from the Government of India, he said.