Odisha will receive an amount of Rs 1,000 crore as interim Central assistance for post-cyclone and flood relief and restoration works. This was announced today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Saturday on the basis of the preliminary report submitted by the Central Inter-Ministerial Team which recently visited the State to assess the losses.
The Prime Minister also announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh, which was also hit by the Phailin along with Odisha. The total quantum of Central assistance to the two States would be finalised after consideration of the on-the-spot assessment report of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team, an official statement said in New Delhi.
In addition, Singh sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured persons from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. The Prime Minister’s move came two days before Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to meet Singh in New Delhi to discuss the issue of Central assistance to the State to meet the needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the disaster-struck areas.
Earlier to the Prime Minister’s announcement of the interim assistance to the two States on Saturday, a delegation led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had called on Singh and presented him a memorandum regarding the losses suffered owing to the impact of the Phailin and the subsequent heavy rains and floods in the State.