Guwahati, March 12 -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a corpus of Rs 500 crore to establish a contingency fund in strife-torn Manipur.

She made this allocation while responding to the Discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grant (SDG) Second Batch 2024-25, Demands for Excess Grants for 2021-22, the Manipur Budget 2025-26, and SDG (Manipur) 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha.

"We are providing all possible financial assistance for the faster recovery of the Manipur economy," she said in her response. Both Bills were passed by voice vote.

Asserting that the overall law and order situation had improved in the northeastern State, except for some sporadic incidents, Ms. Sitharaman said all financial support would be provided...