Centre rejects J&K Govt proposal for spl package to quake victims !!! JAMMU,: In a major setback to the people of backward and hilly districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, the Centre has turned down the State Government’s demand for Rs 607.7 crores worth special package for victims of earthquake, who had lost their houses and other property in devastating quake of May 1 followed by repeated aftershocks for more than a fortnight. Official sources told the Excelsior that the Government of India, to whom the State Cabinet had submitted a proposal worth Rs 607.7 crores as a special grant for earthquake affected people of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts on the pattern of Leh cloudbursts of August 2010, has rejected the State proposal. “The Government of India has rejected the State proposal seeking special package for the earthquake victims to help them rebuild their houses, shops and other property, which had been severely damaged in the earthquake on May 1 followed by aftershocks. This is definitely a major setback. “The Government has already released Rs 25 crores under State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to compensate the people as per the SDRF norms, which has very meager provision of relief ranging from Rs 1250 to Rs 35,000,’’ sources said. They added that the Centre had conveyed to the State Government through an official communication its decision not to accept the demand for any special package for earthquake victims of three districts. Instead, the Government of India advised the State Government to get in touch with the Planning Commission of India for any kind of grant, if it was possible for the Commission to extend to the State. Sources said the State Government immediately got in touch with the Planning Commission of India but it too refused to provide any special funds to the State for compensation to the earthquake victims of three districts. The Planning Commission was reportedly of the view that due to financial constraints it was not in a position to keep a separate provision for the State for rehabilitation of earthquake victims. “The only thing the Government of India has done is giving us advice to sanction houses for the people under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), roads under Prime Minister’s Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and schools under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA),’’ sources said and pointed out that all these three Centrally Sponsored Schemes were already in operation across the State and have very limited scope of compensation of such a massive tragedy. “Under these three schemes, only a particular number of houses, roads or schools could be given to a particular district,’’ they noted. The compensation under SDRF is very meager, which was not acceptable to the victims, who have already refused to take it on the ground that it was not going to serve any purpose for them. Under the SDRF, there was provision of only Rs 35,000 worth compensation for fully damaged pucca house and Rs 15,000 for fully damaged kucha houses, Rs 6300 for severely damaged pucca house and Rs 3200 for severely damaged kucha house, Rs 1900 for partially damaged pucca and kucha houses and Rs 1250 for damaged cattle shed. “By no means, this compensation could heal the wounds of earthquake victims as it was too meager to repair the damaged houses and other property,’’ sources said. As per the official data, 47,513 houses have been damaged in Doda district in the quake and aftershocks which included 678 fully, 10255 severely and 29,317 partially. Bhaderwah town of Doda district bore the brunt of the damage. In Kishtwar district, about 100 houses have been fully damaged while 2815 were severely damaged and about 19,000 were partially damaged. The damage was comparatively less in Ramban district. In Doda district, damage to Government infrastructure was around Rs 89 crores while in Kishtwar it was Rs 8 crores and in Ramban Rs 1.5 crores. In Doda district, about 500 schools, 14 Primary Health Centres and 279 Community Health Centres have been damaged while in Kishtwar district, 169 schools were damaged. Sources said the figures of damage to private property i.e. the houses, shops, cow shed and other personal and commercial establishments in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts has been worked out separately by the administration on Leh pattern and SDRF. The Centre had released Rs 125 crores worth special relief/ rehabilitation package for Ladakh cloudburst victims of 2010. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had announced the package after his visit to Leh after the tragedy. The package had a provision of Rs 2 lakh each to the victims whose houses were fully damaged and Rs 1 lakh to those, whose houses were partially damaged. Rs 1 lakh ex- gratia was released for next of kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 for seriously injured. More than 200 people were killed in the cloudbursts. Sources said though there were only two casualties in earthquake at Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts, the damage was much more as two districts—Doda and Kishtwar were completely hit by quake and there was massive damage to houses and other property of the people. After detailed assessment of the situation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh personally and apprised him of the damage caused by earthquake and sought Rs 607.7 crores worth package for the earthquake victims. The State Cabinet had endorsed the package. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had reiterated demand for the package during the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to Kishtwar on June 25. Worthwhile to mention here that five out of six MLAs in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts belonged to the Congress and two of them—Abdul Mujeed Wani (R&B) and Vikar Rasool (MoS Power etc) were Ministers.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 03:47:09 +0000