Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced state government’s desire to extend its help in major rehabilitation work in calamity-hit northern Indian state Uttarakhand.
{loadposition adinarticle} CM announced ex-gratia payment of Rs.2-lakh to the next of the kin of each person who died in the tragedy.
Addressing a high-level meeting of disaster management here to take stock of the situation in the hill state, he said that about 6,000 pilgrims from Gujarat have already come back, while another 2,500 are on the way and the remaining about 100 persons still stranded there are being contacted for their safe return.Relief teams of Gujarat led by 11 IAS officers is working for the last six days in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
The Gujarat Government’s Relief Camp started at Hardwar proved quite helpful to the pilgrims who were brought back home in chartered planes, private luxury buses and trains. The Gujarat team headed by Relief Commissioner would continue to work there till required.
CM reiterated his government’s stand of extending all possible assistance, including medical staff, medicines and other provisions, to the people of Uttarakhand in their hour of tragedy. He also announced Rs.3-crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the victims in Uttarakhand, in addition to Rs.2-crore he had announced on the first day.
In his speech at the launch of Swami Vivekanand Youth Employment week which started on 24th June 2013, CM appealed to the people of Gujarat to generously donate for a humanitarian cause. He said, “Many villages are devastated in Uttarakhand, and thousands of houses are destroyed there. There is a major task of rehabilitation and I am going to meet my govt officers today(in this regard). What I think is that not only pilgrims visiting the state are affected, but local people of Uttarakhand too have also faced problem. There can be a family kit, or what we can describe as home kit that may contain everything which is needed to start a house. We shall collect such kits in next few days through public private partnership and attempt to take them to the people.” He directed District Collectors of the State to coordinate for this humanitarian task.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Varesh Sinha, CM’s Chief Principal Secretary K. Kailashnathan, Revenue Principal Secretary D.J. Pandian, CM’s Principal Secretary G.C. Murmu and Additional Principal Secretary A.K. Sharma.
Sources: Gujarat Information Bureau / CM site
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