New Delhi, Dec. 16 -- The Central government has approved Rs 507.37 crore for a national project for strengthening community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives in Panchayati Raj institutions for 20 states, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday.

A High-Level Committee (HLC) under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah granted the approval for the project outlay, which will cover 81 disaster-prone districts of 20 states and will additionally develop 20 Gram Panchayats focused on major hazards as replicable models for local DRR. The programme will complement the efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as well as the states in PRI empowerment initiatives in DRR.

Out of the t...