Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Jayadev Jena, on Sunday visited the cyclone-hit district of Ganjam along with Union Minister Srikant Jena and AICC secretary Subhankar Sarkar. Having finished the tour, Jena spewed venom at the State Government, saying the latter has miserably failed to carry out relief work properly even till date.
Jena said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued warning about the catastrophe much earlier. Similarly, the Central Government had dispatched contingents of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy, Army, besides helicopters, engineers and doctors in time to tackle the disaster and rehabilitate the distressed.
Prime Minister Manomohan Singh and AICC Chairman Sonia Gandhi were very much vigilant over the situation. However, despite all support from the Centre, the State Government failed to manage and utilise the resources and ended up in a mess.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should recall that during the 1999 Super Cyclone, the NDA Government had sanctioned just Rs 828 crore against the State’s demand for Rs 6,403 crore for restoration work.
However, this time, the UPA has provided all support before and during the cyclone and floods and has agreed to provide adequate funds for post disaster relief and restoration work. Jena demanded waiver of crop loans, besides full assistance to the fishers who have lost suffered major losses. Among others, PCC vice-president Kishore Chandra Patel and senior Congress leader Jagannath Patnaik were in the team.