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Will declare provisions for relief to Gaja-hit in 2 weeks, submits Centre
The Central government on Thursday informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that the compensation for the damage caused by Cyclone Gaja would be disbursed within two weeks.
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Madurai
The submission comes a day after a division bench, while hearing a batch of petitions on the Gaja relief disbursal, sought the union government’s counsel to specify the time when the compensation fund would be given to Tamil Nadu government. Petitions filed by litigants seeking speedy disbursal of relief to the cyclone hit districts came up for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices KK Sasidharan and PDAudikesavalu. The petitioner Stalin of Melur sought compensation of Rs30 lakh each to the for kin of those who lost their lives when the cyclone struck delta districts, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and Dindigul on November 16. Besides, the government should provide job to the kin of the victims. A compensation of Rs 50,000 should also be provided to each of the coconut trees uprooted by the cyclone.
In a petition, Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuramwanted the Centre to declare cyclone as a national disaster.Another petitioner, Murugesan of Peravurani, Thanjavur,sought to expedite the provision of reliefassistance to the cyclone affected districts.
When the petitions were heard on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General Chellapandian charged that the Central government was seeking unnecessary explanations regarding the cyclone damage with an intent to delay the process of extending compensation. Relief and restoration work till date were being carried outonly with the funds allotted by the state government. The state government earlier demanded a compensation of Rs 15,000 crore for the cyclone-hit victims and to carry out restoration work in thefive affected districts.
Meanwhile, Assistant Solicitor General of India V Kathirvel stated that all data sought from the state government regarding the cyclone had been received. The data was sufficient and added that the Tamil Nadu government could utilise Rs 1,277.62 crore available under the ‘State Government Disaster Relief Fund’, if required.
Accepting the submission of the Central government that the relief fund would be disbursed in two weeks, the division bench put off the hearing the case to January 7.
Now, farmers protesting for relief demand farm loan waiver
Farmers, who have been protesting seeking adequate compensation for Cyclone Gaja-hit areas, are now demanding waiver of farm loans. The demand has become popular among the farmers after the Congress-led governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan had waived of short-term loans taken by farmers through cooperative banks.
“The Congress, which won the recent assembly elections promised in its manifesto to waive farm loans and they have done it. The Tamil Nadu government should also follow this model and help the Gaja hit farmers,” PR Pandian, president, Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association told reporters on Thursday.
The farmers are badly hit due to Cyclone Gaja and the waiver of loans will be a timely help for the farming fraternity. The AIADMK government should think about the waiver and should not depend on the Centre which is yet to release compensation, Pandian added.
“Most of the villagers in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur has lost their livelihood and are not in a position to repay the loans. A couple of farmers have committed suicide due to mounting debts and any waiver will help the farmers to a great extent,” said farmer K Ramadoss of Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district.
“For a state like Tamil Nadu, the waiver would cost about Rs 10,000 crore to 12,000 crore, but where is the money in state exchequer, which is already facing a credit of more than 4 lakh crore,” opined a senior state official admitting the financial situation of Tamil Nadu is under severe crunch, where the pension of transport workers are kept pending. However, these are policy decisions taken at the top level, the official quipped.
It may be noted that the state through the Centre has urged the bank and insurance companies to relax the renewal due dates for farmers who had insured their crops in the Delta region.
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