By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A High-Level Committee (HLC), under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah on Tuesday approved Rs.507.37 crore for National Project for Strengthening Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions for 20 states including Uttarakhand.
The initiative is in collaboration with Ministry of Panchayati Raj and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), top officials said.
The Modi government launched the National Disaster Mitigation Fund in 2021 and today the initiative was extended to the Panchayat level. “The Modi govt remains resolutely committed to empowering states/UTs to face any calamity with confidence,” a top official said.
This initiative aims at integrating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) practices into Governance structure through a bottom-up approach to disaster management. To realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of disaster-resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs is providing all necessary support to states and UTs. This programme will cover 81 disaster-prone districts of 20 States and will additionally develop 20 Gram Panchayats focussed on major hazards as replicable models for local DRR. The programme will complement the efforts of M/o Panchayati Raj as well as the States in PRI empowerment initiatives in DRR.
Out of the total approved project outlay of Rs.507.37 crore, Rs.273.38 crores will be central share under NDMF with States contributing commensurate shares of Rs.30.37 crore. Additionally, Rs.151.47 crore will be met from M/o Panchayati Raj with commensurate state share of Rs.52.15 crore.
The activities involved under the project includes institutional strengthening and policy integration in DRR development planning by PRIs, capacity building and awareness generation for SDMAs, DDMAs & PRI members through IEC and fostering collaboration for effective coordination for local disaster mitigation.
This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2025-26, the Central Government has released Rs.16,118.00 crore to 28 States under SDRF and Rs. 2854.18 crore to 18 states under NDRF.
Additionally, Central Government has released Rs.5273.60 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 21 States and Rs.1423.06 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to 14 States.