Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert the amount sanctioned for disaster relief in the wake of the landslide in her constituency on July 30, 2024 into a grant instead of a loan, and to stagger the deadline for complete spending of the fund beyond the present one of March 31, 2025. She also called the amount of Rs 529.5 crore “inadequate”.
“After continuous urging from the MPs of Kerala, the central government has recently announced a relief package of Rs 529.50 crore for the victims of the (landslide) devastation. Apart from the fact of its inadequacy, it is unprecedented that the package comes with two conditions: first that the funds shall be disbursed, not as a grant as is the norm, but as a loan; second, that they should be spent in their entirety by the 31st of March 2025,” Priyanka’s letter said. “These conditions are not only immensely unfair, but display a shocking lack of sensitivity…”
She said the Centre’s refusal to declare the disaster a national disaster came as a shock for people, and that after months of pressure from Kerala MPs, it was finally declared a disaster of severe nature, which seemed a step in the right direction.
“It is my earnest request to you to convert the relief package into a grant and extend the time period for its implementation,” the letter said.
Underlining that it was impossible for the people to overcome the “catastrophe” without financial and infrastructural support both from the central and state governments, Priyanka said that “the rehabilitation process is progressing at a painful pace”.
Offering details about the landslide, Priyanka said 298 people were found dead, 17 families were completely wiped out and 110 acres of agricultural land was destroyed by the landslide.
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