The Union government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that it had earmarked ₹100 crore and set up a panel of experts to find a lasting solution to the frequent floods in the northeast, including Assam.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, in his reply to a calling attention motion on the issue of floods, rejected Opposition claims that the government had failed to respond in time to the “annual feature” of floods and given little financial help to the States.
Trinamool’s charge
He also denied the allegation made by Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress that the Centre discriminated against the States not ruled by the BJP in funds allocation.
“We feel there is political discrimination,” Mr. Roy said.
To this, Mr. Rijiju responded that two instalments to the State Disaster Relief Fund had been made in time and without any discrimination. “We have also allocated ₹130 crore to the State [West Bengal] government for desilting the Damodar River,” he said. The State (West Bengal) had to first submit a memorandum to the Centre to get funds to tackle floods; the document was yet to be sent.
