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J&K flood relief: After long wait, anger over ‘peanuts’ from Centre

The figures are lower than the Rs 44,000 crore demanded by the National Conference-Congress government from the Centre after the floods.

J&K flood relief, J&K relief package flood , J&K flood relief aid package, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed,  relief package J&K flood, Kashmir floods, J&K reconstruction, jammu and Kashmir, j&K news, india news, nation news President of Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee for Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Mohammad Yasin Khan addressing a joint press conference regarding Centre’s flood rehabilitation package in Srinagar on Wednesday. (Source: PTI Photo)

The flood relief package announced by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir has left Opposition parties and civil society fuming.
At a press conference Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Rs 2,437 crore was being immediately released for the state. But a Home Ministry press release issued later said Rs 1,667 crore additional assistance was being released.

The figures are lower than the Rs 44,000 crore demanded by the National Conference-Congress government from the Centre after the floods.

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In March, when the PDP-BJP government took charge, hopes were high that the Centre would release a generous sum. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed even told a gathering of traders last month that the package would be announced before the month of Ramzan so they could start the rebuilding process. But according to figures provided by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, a total of Rs 5,039 crore for short-term relief and reconstruction has been released so far.

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J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the package is an insult to people. “For the last 10 months, people have been waiting for relief. The Centre has provided us peanuts. It is far less than what people got after the Uttarakhand flash floods,” Mir said. “We expected at least Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 crore now and the rest in a phased manner over the next five years.”

National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sager claimed the “figures provided by the Centre were incorrect”. He also claimed the Centre was “resorting to stepmotherly treatment towards J&K and people should not look towards the Centre for any relief”.

Festive offer

“Our economy is in ruins. In the countryside, people lost their land and their crops, but there is nothing for them in the package,” Peer Ghulam Nabi Suhail, director of the think tank, Centre for Research and Development Policy, said. “If the Centre is not ready to help, they should have allowed external support for the people.”

Mohammad Yasin Khan, chairman of the traders and manufactures association, said around one lakh traders suffered losses in the floods.
“We reject the rehabilitation package announced by the Centre. PDP should break the alliance with the BJP. They (the BJP) consider people of Kashmir their enemies and they are not showing any interest in their rehabilitation,” Khan said. But the state government continued to defend the package, with PDP chief spokesman Mehboob Beg calling it a good beginning. “This is the start and more relief is coming for the flood affected people,” Beg said.

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Minister of State for Power and Industries Mohammad Ashraf Mir said, “We know funds are not adequate, but we will approach the Centre for more funds and they should be generous. In the coming days, as more funds are made available to us, the distribution process will start,” Mir said.

First uploaded on: 18-06-2015 at 01:54 IST
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