Hudhud relief provided to the affected areas has been disproportionate to the huge damages suffered, member of Department-related Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs Sitaram Yechury has said.
The Prime Minister had sanctioned Rs.1,000 crore of relief after the cyclone struck on October 12 and the Rs.446 crore released was what could be legitimately drawn by Andhra Pradesh from State and national disaster relief, he said.
“All the MPs had contributed Rs.50 lakh from MPLADS funds and that itself came to Rs.400 crore,” he pointed out in a brief interaction with media on Sunday.
State government officials say they had no funds and unless Centre released funds they could not provide further assistance, he said stating the issues would be raised in Parliament. He was of the view that the loss suffered was much more than official estimates.
Mr. Sitaram felt that there was a need for humanitarian approach without discrimination to help people when such a tragedy struck. For instance, occupation (of land) was being cited for not giving relief to houses. Officials said only registered fishing boats were eligible for compensation.
For damaged houses, Rs.5,000 was offered but to put a roof with asbestos sheets it would cost Rs.10,000, he said.
The MP said some novel thinking was needed to address the huge task. The private industry in Andhra Pradesh could be asked to spend its corporate social responsibility share on relief and bring a law for it, he said.
