Centre releases assistance to cyclone-hit Odisha

Centre today decided to release the first tranche of assistance of Rs 300 crore towards relief and rehabilitation of the people hit by severe cyclonic storm Phailin in Odisha, a day after CPI(M) attacked the UPA government for not disbursing a single paisa so far.
"The government has decided to sanction Rs 300 crore," senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told PTI after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament House.
Yechury, who was accompanied by his party leaders from Odisha including state secretary Janardan Pati, had yesterday called on President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to ask the Centre to declare the devastation a national disaster and get the money sanctioned soon.

"The Prime Minister had announced a grant of Rs 1,000 crore, but not even one paisa has been disbursed so far. What is strange is not even a single Central Minister has visited the state to assess the level of damage and devastation," Yechury had said.
The President was also reminded of his own visit to Odisha in 1999 as the Finance Minister in the aftermath of the super-cyclone, during which Mukherjee had travelled on a motorbike to the interiors of the state, he had said.