Rs 500 crore not sufficient, but more money will come: Bihar minister
Patna,(BiharTimes): Even as chief minister Nitish Kumar is yet to open his mouth on the issue disaster management department minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav on Wednesday conceded that Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 26 is not enough for the flood hit people of Bihar.
However, he expressed hope that more money would soon follow.
“We gave a memorandum demanding Rs 10,787 crore…There is a system. The fund will come…Last time (2008) nothing came,” the minister told BBC Hindi Service in its morning Namaskar Bharat programme.
He said there is no ‘shabdh’ (word) like “National Calamity”. Relief is given through the state government. Whatever the Centre gives would be distributed, he said.
Though the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on August 28, 2008 announced Rs 1,000 crore after the Kosi flood that year the present Bihar minister claimed that nothing came. No “support” came from the then prime minister Manmohan Singh. The state government had to take Rs 1,000 croe loan from the World Bank to re-build infrastructure.
Dinesh Chandra Yadav claimed that all preparations were done before the flood. NDRF and SDRF teams were already deployed. All collectors were alert. But since it was unprecedented flood and not traditional one there was some problem. No government would have done better in such a situation. No one ever imagined that such a flood would devastate Bihar.
The administration, according to the minister, who himself comes from the Kosi belt, swung into action and became quite active from the second day itself.
the administration became active.
On being asked as to how much marks he would given to the relief and rescue works he said that the Nitish Kumar government deserves nine out of 10 marks.
