State yet to get Rs 1,500-crore relief aid announced by PM: Speaker

Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania yesterday said that the state was yet to receive the Rs 1,500-crore disaster relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his aerial survey of the rain-hit areas.

“Despite this, the state government is extending every possible help to the disaster-hit families from its own resources,” Pathania said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a newly constructed Panchayat Bhawan at Jandroh gram panchayat in Bhattiyat subdivision.

The building, constructed at a cost of Rs 43.29 lakh, would serve as a hub for local governance and developmental planning, he added.

Pathania said that most of the development projects initiated under the Special Action Plan in his constituency had been completed and the inauguration process had begun from Jandroh. He added that it was mandatory to obtain permission from the Central Government under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to provide forestland to people, who had lost their homes in the rain disaster.

He said that the state government had repeatedly urged the Central Government to amend the FRA provisions, but no positive response had been received so far.

The Speaker highlighted ongoing development works in Bhattiyat and said that necessary steps were being taken to ensure road connectivity, uninterrupted drinking water and power supply to all remote and tail-end villages. He added that the construction of a new link road for the convenience of the residents of Chakki and Rakhed villages would commence soon.

Pathania said that 12 new road projects had been sent for approval under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to accelerate rural connectivity in the constituency. He added that the 9-km link road to the Nag Bintaru Temple had been completed and would be inaugurated in the first week of November.

He stressed the need for a special development plan in view of climate change and said that mitigating the losses caused by natural disasters was essential for sustainable growth.