THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Central team, comprising joint secretary-level officers drawn from various government departments, will visit Kerala by the third week of September, in order to assess the damages and devastation caused by the mid-August deluge. Generally, such official visits from New Delhi would be led by joint secretaries comprising deputy secretary officers.A top bureaucrat told Express that the state government maintained an excellent communication with the Central government with regard to the deluge and its destructive aftermath.
The state expects a good package based on the assessment to be carried out by the Central team. The bureaucrat, however, denied that the total package has been finalised, as a lot of parameters need to be factored into, including reports from consultants.An amount of `93 crore has already been given by the national horticulture mission to the state agriculture department for compensating the banana crop losses. This is in addition to the `600 crore given as immediate relief, said the officer.
He said that the central package is `13,000 per hectare for crops like paddy and banana and `19,000 per hectare for perennial crops like coffee. However, the officer said that the Central government will be more considerate to the state, which is expecting a better package on these crops.Generally, 10 per cent of the total annual budget from the Central pool is earmarked for road funds for Kerala. The state will get this fund as special assistance.
The state is expecting a higher volume from the Central pool as the team, which is arriving in the state, comprises officers in the rank of joint secretary and above, who can take decisions without requiring further clearance from New Delhi.
Finance minister T M Thomas Issac has already said that the state will be asking for an amount of `30,000 crore from the Centre for flood relief assistance, which includes `20,000 crore as capital expenditure and `10,000 crore revenue expenditure.While this amount may be on the higher side, the state government is expecting a good package and pinning hopes on the visit by the high-level Central team.
CM’s absence has affected relief work: Chennithala
T’Puram:After Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan went to the US for treatment, senior officers and ministers fought each other, causing poor management of flood relief works, said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. He alleged that the state has become leaderless after the Chief Minister left the country. He alleged that Pinarayi did not hand over his charge to any other minister, owing to trust deficit. He charged the Revenue Department with total failure, and added that thedepartment has once again proved its incompetence as it has not even been able to distribute the preliminary relief amount of D10,000 to the beneficiaries.
“Complaints are galore about flood victims being removed from the list of beneficiaries, and this is a major issue. Only fund mobilisation using officials is taking place,” said Chennithala. He said that government employees have already given their three days’ salary and festival allowance to the flood relief fund, and forcing and threatening them to pay one month’s salary is not proper. He added that if someone wants to willingly give one month’s salary then it’s fine, but the government should not force people in this regard.