Modi deputes four ministers to Bihar to coordinate quake relief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deputed four union ministers to Bihar to coordinate relief efforts in the state where 57 people died due to Saturday's devastating earthquake in Nepal.

"Ministers @AnanthKumar_BJP, Radha Mohan Singh ji and @JPNadda_bjp will go to Bihar to take stock of the situation and coordinate relief effort," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a tweet.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS that Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has already visited Raxaul in Bihar, while Health Minister Nadda, Agriculture Minister Singh and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Kumar will visit the state.

"These four have been nominated for coordinating quake relief," Naqvi said. BJP leaders said that Pradhan was already in Bihar to oversee the process of Indians being brought back from quake-hit Nepal and relief supplies being sent to the Himalayan country. Over 4,300 people have died in Nepal in the devastating earthquake which measured measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and shook India as well.

The toll in India following the quake was 72, with the highest number of 57 deaths reported from Bihar. The PMO said that Modi held a review meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top officials on the situation arising due to the earthquake.

The PMO also said that Minister of State Jitendra Singh, "a doctor by profession, has arranged to send free insulin to diabetes patients among the earthquake victims in Nepal"