Indian Express: Balangir: Monday,
May 23, 2016.
In a clear
case of step-motherly attitude of the Centre in granting drought assistance,
Odisha has received far less fund in comparison to the BJP-ruled States such
as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Maharashtra in 2015-16.
Information
obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Balangir-based activist
Hemant Panda revealed that while assistance towards gratuitous relief has been
provided to other States, the claim of Odisha has been ignored. The Centre has
provided only input subsidy to the State while it failed to provide gratuitous
fund.
There is a
provision to provide input subsidy with gratuitous relief to drought-hit
States, but Odisha didn’t receive the latter.
The
gratuitous relief was provided to Telangana from NDRF during 2015-16 drought,
alleged Panda. Sources said gratuitous relief is provided to families of
deceased or critically-injured farmers. Under National Disaster Response Fund
(NDRF), an adult and a child of a family get `60 and `45 per day respectively
for 30 days in case of natural calamities. The duration may be extended to 90
days in case of drought.
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