PM announces ₹1.5k-cr relief foramphan-hitbengal,odisha
CYCLONE West Bengal granted ~1k cr assistance fund, Odisha ~500 cr; PM assures states of more long-term relief
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At times, we have to move beyond politics, attend to constitutional obligations and work together as state and Centre... We have to maintain that relationship
nKOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ~1,500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha, and assured the states of more support after conducting separate aerial surveys with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
West Bengal is fighting well, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) quoted Modi as saying in a series of tweets, which also underscored the fact that the state is faced with the twopronged challenge of fighting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and rebuilding areas battered by the cyclone. Modi’s remarks were seen as praise for Banerjee, one of his staunchest critics.
“The government of India will work shoulder-to-shoulder with the state administration. We are announcing the release of an advance assistance fund of ~1,000 crore,” Modi said after a review meeting in North 24 Parganas. Later, he announced assistance of ~500 crore for Odisha.
Amphan, the most severe storm in the Bay of Bengal since the super cyclone of 1999, has left a trail of destruction and damage in the two states, killing about 80 people in West Bengal and at least two in Odisha.
It was around 11am that Modi reached the Kolkata airport, where he was received by Banerjee and governor Jagdeep Dhankar on the first leg of his day-long tour. Modi and Banerjee, fierce opponents on two sides of the political spectrum, boarded a helicopter to survey the worsthit areas of North and South 24 Parganas districts. Accompanying them was Dhankar.
“At times we have to move beyond politics, attend to constitutional obligations and work
MAMATA BANERJEE, Bengal CM
together as state and central governments. We have to maintain that relationship. We have to follow the federal structure,” Banerjee said before the PM’S arrival. At the review meeting in Basirhat after the survey, Modi declared that ~2 lakh each will be given to families of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Those injured will get ~50,000 each.
“We are battling a pandemic on one hand and there is a cyclone situation in some parts. Dealing with the pandemic requires social distancing whereas battling the cyclone requires people to move to safer areas,” the PMO said in a tweet. “Despite these contradictions, West Bengal is fighting well…”
Banerjee said her state suffered losses of more than ~1 lakh crore. She said she “reminded the Prime Minister about ~53,000 crore the Centre owes to the state for various social security schemes”. “If they (Centre) give some money to us, we can work,” she said.
In Odisha too, Modi conducted an aerial survey after holding a review meeting with governor Ganeshi Lal and CM Patnaik. In addition to the ~500 cr-package, Modi said, further assistance will be provided for long-term rehabilitation measures. According to the preliminary estimates, the storm affected 4.4 million people and over 100,000 hectares of farmland in the state.