The High Level Committee (HLC) headed union home minister Rajnath Singh today approved a drought assistance to the tune of Rs 280.19 crore to Andhra Pradesh. This is the second round to relief to the state in 2016.

The Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and senior officers of the Ministries of Home, Finance and Agriculture attended the meeting in the meeting.

The Committee examined the proposals submitted by drought affected state including Andhra Pradesh and report of the Central Team which visited the affected states by severe drought. The HLC approved the assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in respect of Andhra Pradesh to the tune of Rs 280.19 crore, Rs 332.57 crore for Assam, Rs.170.19 crore for Himachal Pradesh and Rs 16.02 crore for Nagaland.

The HLC also approved an amount of Rs. 336.94 crore for Jharkhand, Rs. 1177.59 crore for Rajasthan and Rs.1773.78 crore for Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, on January 6, union approved a grant of Rs 434 crore to Andhra Pradesh as drought relief. The second installment is said to be the outcome of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s recent visit to New Delhi. In December 2015, when a central team visited the state to study the drought situation in the state, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu sought Rs 2000 crore to take up drought relief works in the drought affected areas in state.