Centre doing its best to help calamity-hit states, says Anurag Thakur

The Centre is doing its best to help states, including Himachal Pradesh, that have been hit by natural calamities in their hour of crisis, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Saturday.

The Union government has already released Rs 361 crore in two installments and more financial aid will be released shortly, he said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said Himachal Pradesh has suffered losses of about Rs 8,000 crore as heavy rain wreaked havoc in the hill state, triggering landslides and flash floods and damaging roads and other infrastructure.

According to the state emergency response centre, the losses amounted to about Rs 4,000 crore till Friday night and Sukhu had sought an interim relief of Rs 2,000 crore from the Union Home Ministry.

On Saturday, Thakur visited the Dharmapur assembly segment in Mandi district and various regions of Hamirpur district where he met victims of the recent flood.

The sight was shocking and beyond expectation, Thakur, who holds the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry portfolio, said.

He assured that the Centre will provide all help to the people affected.

The Union government will ensure timely and adequate measures to avoid such calamities in the future and teams of experts from the Centre will visit the state soon, Thakur said.

He was part of a delegation led by BJP chief JP Nadda, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and the BJP's state unit president Rajiv Bindal on a visit to flood-hit areas of the state on Friday.

Thakur on Saturday said all parties are united in this time of crisis but the state government should not indulge in politics at a time when Himachal Pradesh is reeling in the aftermath of the calamity. It is time to help and not claim credit, he added.

Thakur claimed that workers of the BJP, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and affiliated organisations are helping the affected people by providing food and shelter without hogging the limelight.

The Union minister also hit out the state government's decision to increase diesel prices by Rs 3, calling it an anti-people move.

In a bid to enhance revenue, the Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday increased the value added tax on diesel by Rs 3 per litre to Rs 10.40 per litre.

Thakur said this shows the real character of the Congress and demanded immediate rollback of the hike.