Pradhan urges Jaitley to help revival of cyclone-battered

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Thursday urged Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to come to the rescue of the hospitality industry in cyclone-ravaged world famous tourists destination Puri.

Pradhan, who paid a visit to Puri battered by severe cyclone on May 3, also urged finance minister to create a special scheme with beneficial interest rates for helping the hotel industry to rebuild the damaged hospitality sector.

Extensive damage has been caused to the economy of Puri district. Tourism, which is the mainstay of the district, has completely collapsed. Presently, the hotel infrastructure is in dire need of financial hand holding. It is imperative that the hospitality industry is revived so as to restore livelihood of people and benefit tourists/pilgrims, Pradhan said in the letter to Jaitley.

Pradhan also urged the finance minister to create a special scheme with beneficial interest rates for helping the hotel industry to rebuild the damaged hospitality sector.

It will be helpful to restructure the existing loan component. Productive sectors damaged will require adequate financial support at benevolent rates for revival in the cyclone affected districts, he said.

It is also important to expeditiously settle the insurance claims of the claimants in all the cyclone affected districts whose property has been extensively damaged, to provide a fillip for reviving the economy, Pradhan said in the letter.

He urged Jaitley to instruct banks and insurance companies to undertake measures to help the badly hit hospitality sector.

The Union Petroleum minister also reviewed the post- cyclone activities in the banking sector and held a meeting with bankers.

He said there has been large scale damage to the bank branches and ATM facilities, especially in Puri district. This is evident from the fact that only 20 of the 273 ATMs are presently operational in Puri district, he pointed out adding that only 25 per cent of bank branches are functional.

He said SBI is presently dispensing cash upto Rs 2000 on the production of the bank passbook. I have urged all other banks to follow this as an uniform model in consultation with RBI. I have also advised banks to active the banking correspondents and the common service centre and ensure delivery of cash through the point of sale (POS) devices, he said.

The Petroleum Minister also suggested the banks to introduce mobile ATMs in the districts.