Over the years, finance commissions have provided guidelines to the central government on assisting the state governments in providing relief to disaster-affected communities. It began with the margin money prescription by the Second Finance Commission, which was modified into the Calamity Relief Fund by the Ninth Finance Commission, and further evolved into the current State Disaster Response Fund. However, the mode of computing the quantum of allocation to SDRFs, which has led to some states receiving less than their deserved allocations, needs to be reviewed in the wake of the constitution of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
