BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan once again targeted the State Government for its failure to restore essential services in the cyclone and flood affected districts."While bodies of missing persons are being recovered after eights days of the disaster, the State Government has not been able to restore electricity and drinking water supply to many of the affected villages of Ganjam and Gajapati districts," Pradhan said in short video clip on Facebook.
The situation is still disturbing in many parts of Gajapati and Ganjam districts as relief has not reached many affected families, Pradhan said after visiting several areas the two districts.Reacting sharply to the comment of a senior minister that never before such a higher monetary compensation was given to families who lost their kin in natural disasters by any government, the Union Minister said nothing could be more insensitive than comparing the loss of human life in monetary terms.
"The critics of 'zero casualty' theory of the State Government failed to understand how higher ex gratia will compensate loss of life. Is `10 lakh more than the life of a person? Is this the sensitivity of the government towards the plight of people killed in the calamity?" Pradhan questioned.Pradhan was reacting to Finance Minister Sashi Bhushan Behera's statement lauding the efforts the State Government for announcing ex gratia of `10 lakh for the kin of the deceased.
Citing the Gajapati incident where a man had to carry the body of his minor daughter wrapped in a sack on his shoulders for post-mortem, Pradhan said bodies of people are still being recovered even after one week of the disaster.
Lambasting the zero casualty claim of the Government, Pradhan said what is more annoying is the invisibility of the government officials and ministers in the affected districts. Senior officers of the State are only reviewing relief and restoration works in the State Capital while there is no one at the ground to monitor it.