New Delhi: Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai was today all praise for the Odisha government’s efforts in evacuating more than 15, 57,000 people to safer places before Cyclone Fani.
The MoS Home Affairs thanked the Odisha government, United Nations Organization (UNO), many other countries and experts in the field for their proper coordinated efforts for accurate forecasting and warning on natural disasters and the immediate massive evacuation of over 15, 57,000 people to safer places.
Rai while responding to a question by BJP member Jual Oram on Cyclone Fani during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha thanked the Prime Minister and the Home Affairs Minister for their 24×7 alertness and coordinated efforts at the time of natural calamities as a team, he pointed out that it was all possible due to the mutual cooperation between the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, NDRF teams and the States that a calamity like the 1999 cyclone in which 10,000 people were killed could be avoided.
Through a supplementary to the original question on Cyclone Fani by Oram, BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Mishra speaking in chaste Hindi reiterated the demand for according special focus or targeted assistance to Odisha which has been facing the devastation caused by cyclones earlier and now in Fani and Bulbul.
No other State has been suffering damages to this extent, he added.
He said there was a gap between Odisha’s memorandum seeking assistance for the damages caused due to Cyclone Fani and the allocation of assistance given by the Centre on this account.
The Puri MP also reiterated Odisha’s demand for revision of royalties on minerals so that the State could raise its resources and need not come to Delhi for begging.
Responding to Mishra’s allegation, the MoS stated that there is a process for providing assistance by the Centre in such cases.
He said the assistance amount was arrived at on the basis of reports of the 11 meetings held by the Cabinet Secretary with National Crisis Management Committee between April 19 and May 10 in the case of Cyclone Fani.
The allocation amount approved thereto has been allocated, he added.
