Arunachal Pradesh govt releases Rs 66 crore for COVID-19 related expenses

Itanagar, May 13: The Arunachal Pradesh government has released an amount of over Rs 66 crore to the Health department and all deputy commissioners of the district for COVID-19 related expenses.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday said that the amount has been released from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for effective Covid management in the state. "Pursuant to the decision of State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), for effective management of #COVID19, Rs 66.0029 crores of SDRF has been released to the Health Department and all Deputy Commissioners for Covid related expenses," Khandu tweeted.

Out of total released fund, an amount of Rs 29.15 crore has been earmarked for clearing pending liabilities of COVID-19 related expenditures at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) at Naharlagun near here, and an amount of Rs 17.57 crore for procurement of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits, Disaster Management Secretary Dani Salu said in two separate orders issued on Tuesday.

Salu in the orders stated that the amount was released from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) under sub-window response and relief in favour of the Director of Health and Family Welfare who would incur the expenditure as per government norms, guidelines and instructions issued from time to time.

"The utilization certificates against the allocated fund should be submitted as required under government norms immediately," the orders said. - PTI