The Centre on Saturday announced relief packages of Rs 1,000 crore each for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for restoration and rehabilitation in the areas affected by cyclone Phailin, as well as those hit by the subsequent heavy rains and floods last month.
A Press Information Bureau release said, "The prime minister has announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore each for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for relief and rehabilitation. The total quantum of assistance to the states will be finalised after consideration of the on-the spot assessment report of the inter-ministerial central team."
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Pradesh Congress Committee president and state transport minister B Satyanarayana met the prime minister on Saturday and sought advance release from the calamity relief fund. In a report to the prime minister, they stated a preliminary estimation loss of Rs 6,510 crore. The natural calamities had affected 16 of the 23 districts in the state.
The heavy rains that lashed the state in the third week of October had caused severe damage, including crop loss across 8,00,000 hectares, the report added.
Reddy said the prime minister had agreed to their request for advance release of Rs 1,000 crore, besides promising to send a central team to assess the damage soon. He added the prime minister also promised to hasten the disbursal of the Rs 1,042 crore announced as relief during earlier cyclones.
In addition, the prime minister also sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of the kin of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured. On Friday, Odisha Governor S C Jamir had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging for the urgent release of financial aid to the state.
In his letter, Jamir had said the Centre should take steps to facilitate the release of Rs 4,242.41 crore and Rs 1,590.09 crore sought by the state government in two phases, for repair and restoration work.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had sought an advance of Rs 1,000 crore from the prime minister before preparation of the actual damage assessment.
In an emergency meeting on Thursday, the state Cabinet scaled up the corpus of the Odisha Contingency Fund from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,900 crore, keeping in mind the recurring natural disasters. The recent calamities affected about 21 million people across 18 districts in the state.
A Press Information Bureau release said, "The prime minister has announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore each for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for relief and rehabilitation. The total quantum of assistance to the states will be finalised after consideration of the on-the spot assessment report of the inter-ministerial central team."
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Pradesh Congress Committee president and state transport minister B Satyanarayana met the prime minister on Saturday and sought advance release from the calamity relief fund. In a report to the prime minister, they stated a preliminary estimation loss of Rs 6,510 crore. The natural calamities had affected 16 of the 23 districts in the state.
The heavy rains that lashed the state in the third week of October had caused severe damage, including crop loss across 8,00,000 hectares, the report added.
Reddy said the prime minister had agreed to their request for advance release of Rs 1,000 crore, besides promising to send a central team to assess the damage soon. He added the prime minister also promised to hasten the disbursal of the Rs 1,042 crore announced as relief during earlier cyclones.
In addition, the prime minister also sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of the kin of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured. On Friday, Odisha Governor S C Jamir had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging for the urgent release of financial aid to the state.
In his letter, Jamir had said the Centre should take steps to facilitate the release of Rs 4,242.41 crore and Rs 1,590.09 crore sought by the state government in two phases, for repair and restoration work.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had sought an advance of Rs 1,000 crore from the prime minister before preparation of the actual damage assessment.
In an emergency meeting on Thursday, the state Cabinet scaled up the corpus of the Odisha Contingency Fund from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,900 crore, keeping in mind the recurring natural disasters. The recent calamities affected about 21 million people across 18 districts in the state.