Maharashtra extends Rs 20 cr plus flood aid to Kerala

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced an emergency financial aid of Rs 20 crore plus food and other essentials for the flood hit victims of Kerala, an official said here.

From Sunday, the government, in collaboration with various agencies and NGOs will make arrangements for food and other items of daily need for the flood victims.

A consignment of six tonnes will be despatched to Kerala on Saturday, while another five tonnes will follow shortly.

In this, realtors, umbrella bodies, MCHI and CREDAI have contributed foodgrains worth Rs 1.50 crore while the Rajasthani Welfare Association and JITO have extended help of Rs 51 lakh each.

The private sector ICICI Bank also announced a contribution of Rs 10 crore towards Kerala flood relief, besides waiving off various penalties on late EMI payments for all retail loans, credit card dues and cheque bouncing cases for the current month.

While Rs 8 crore of the contribution will go to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), the rest will be in the form of essential commodities, food, medicines, clothes, sanitation and hygiene products, to the 14 worst-hit districts, said the bank's Executive Director Anup Bagchi.

Earlier on Saturday, the State Bank of India donated Rs 2 crore and initiated several ground-level measures in the deluged state.

Besides, the SBI has encouraged all its 270,000 staffers to contribute to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), and the bank would contribute an equivalent amount.

The bank also announced a waiver of fees and charges on services like loans for flood relief, duplicate passbooks, ATM cards, cheque books, EMI delays, etc, besides making attempts to restore the working of branches and ATMs in the flood affected regions of the state.

Besides, SBI has decided to waive all charges on remittances to the CMDRF, penalty on non-maintenance of minimum account balance from proceeds of relief fund provided by the government and agencies, and if already recovered, such charges would be refunded for customers in the state.

The bank has extended Xpress Credit to existing customers with relaxed norms for a month, deployed cash at PoS (Point of Sale) to enable people avail Rs 2,000 to meet daily cash requirements across the state.

Persons who have lost or displaced personal documents can open small accounts with only photos and signature or thumb impressions with all employees of the SBI deployed to address the requirements of the customers and ensure the best possible service.

--IANS

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