SP legislators to give Rs.10 lakh each to Uttarakhand

All members of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) have pledged to give Rs.10 lakh each from their constituency development funds to Uttarakhand for relief work, a party leader said Friday.

Announcing the decision, which was taken after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav donated one month's salary to the calamity-hit, neighbouring hill state, party spokesman and state Prison Minister Rajendra Chowdhary said all legislators would also be giving Rs.50,000 each for relief and rehabilitation work while ministers will give Rs.1 lakh.

"This is a tragedy that has pained all of us no ends and we are duty bound to give the most we can to the people of Uttarakhand to help them come back to normal life," Akhilesh Yadav said in a statement.

The SP has 224 legislators in the 403-member state assembly.

The Uttar Pradesh government has already given Rs.25 crore to Uttarakhand government to help people hit by flash floods and rains and has also ordered release of the pending Rs.350 crore against payment of pensions during the time the states were one.

The chief minister also said that whatever else needs to be done will be done for the state and teams of doctors and other necessary material was on stand by and available to be used by the Uttarakhand government.

Akhilesh Yadav is said to have delayed his programme to tour Uttarakhand as he feels that this could hamper the ongoing relief and evacuation operations.