Give funds for ‘Titli’ victims urgently: CM
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that the State has not yet received any Central assistance to carry out restoration work in the areas hit by cyclone Titli and demanded that the same be released immediately. In a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, Mr. Patnaik said the cyclone that hit Odisha in October affected 60.31 lakh people in 17 districts of the State. Memorandum submitted“The State government has submitted a memorandum to the Government of India seeking a Central assistance of ₹2,023.13 crore against the total requirement of ₹2,779.32 crore for relief and restoration measures,” Mr. Patnaik wrote. He said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 18, seeking an interim assistance of ₹1,000 crore. “The inter-Ministerial Central team had already made an on-the-spot assessment of the damages during the first week of November 2018. However, we have not received any assistance, so far, from the Government of India,” he said.Mr. Patnaik said ₹1,689.13 crore released for relief and restoration work from the State Disaster Response Fund has been utilised. The Chief Minister sought “personal attention” of the Union Home Minister for “immediate” release of the Central assistance to Odisha for undertaking repair and restoration work, squaring up the liabilities and smooth management of other disasters. ‘Paltry compensation’Meanwhile, a farmers’ organisation has alleged that the State government is giving only ₹2,200 per acre compensation for the cyclone-devastated paddy crop, while adjoining Andhra Pradesh was paying ₹20,000 per acre.The Odisha Krushak Sabha added that the State government was also not providing adequate bonus to farmers during paddy procurement, whereas the Kerala government has decided to give ₹500 bonus over the Central government-prescribed Minimum Support Price.During the 2017 Kharif season, insurance companies collected ₹986 crore as premium from the farmers but paid only ₹200 crore as insurance cover. The OKS alleged that the official assessment of paddy crop loss due to pests alone was ₹2,000 crore.According to the OKS, unlike its counterpart in Karnataka, the Odisha government has not even thought of waiver of agricultural loans. Accusing the Naveen Patnaik government of ignoring the farmers, OKS leader Harikrushna Reddy said: “If this trend continues, the ruling regime may also face the wrath of the farmers in the near future.” The OKS is now planning to start a peasants’ movement to press for its demands.(With inputs from Sib Kumar Das)