New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir government's demand for a Rs 42000 crore package to deal with the situation created by the recent floods will be referred to an appropriate committee which deals with such issues, government told the Lok Sabha today.
"Some Members stated that the total special package asked by the state of Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 1 lakh crore. It is not the case. The state government has proposed a total fund of Rs 42,033.45 crore. As I said, this matter will be placed before the committee when all the reports are ready," Minister of state for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju informed the Lok Sabha.
He was replying to a debate in the Lower House on natural calamities in various parts of the country with special reference to rains and floods in Jammu and Kashmir, cyclone in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and drought in Maharashtra.
"Let me inform the House again that it is not the effort of just the state government or the central government, it is the combined effort," Rijiju said.
He said never before in the history of independent India has the country witnessed a relief operation as it was done during recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rijiju said the efforts made by the Narendra Modi government to provide relief to the people hit by the devastating situation in the hill state was praised by many including state Chief Minister.
"More than 30,000 personnel of Army, Air Force, Navy, National Disaster Response Force, along with all the Central Reserve Forces which are under the Home Ministry were pressed into action. Never before such a relief operation was conducted in the history of India. This is by far the biggest such operation ever conducted," he said.
Rijiju said when the disaster struck the Kashmir Valley, Jammu region and some other areas of the state, the Prime Minister immediately made an announcement of Rs 1,000 crore and that money was been released as special project assistance.
"Besides that, Rs 94.33 crore as central share of State Disaster Response Fund has already been released in advance. And then, Prime Minister also announced an immediate relief of Rs 570 crore for rebuilding of damaged houses, Rs 175 crore for upgrading the affected hospitals, and Rs 20 crore for replacement of lost books to all the 10 lakh children in primary and upper secondary schools, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund," the MoS for Home said.
Over and above that, from the National Disaster Relief Fund ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the grievously injured persons was already announced from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, the Minister said.
"So far we have received lists of 9,270 beneficiaries who have suffered complete damage to their houses. We are awaiting the details of other beneficiaries from the state government," he said.
The Minister said the Central Ministerial team has already visited the state and "we are seeking some more clarifications from the state Government".
"Once that is done, it will be placed before the appropriate Committee as envisaged in the system in the Government," he said.
