vasan for foolproof delivery of flood aid
G.K. Vasan, president, Tamil Maanila Congress, visited flood-affected Sorispuram and Kovilpillai Nagar here on Thursday and distributed relief materials.
Addressing the media, he said that the State government must set up an interim ministry to ensure that relief operations were carried out promptly. Lakhs of people in the State had been affected by the flood since waterbodies were not maintained properly. Had the government took precautionary measures as soon as it was forecast that many parts of the State would receive heavy rains, the large-scale damage could have been averted. The government must learn a lesson from this catastrophic situation, he said.
Mr. Vasan sought an enquiry into death of 19 patients in MIOT Hospital, Chennai, in the aftermath of flood. Demanding the government to increase the relief assistance given to the flood victims, he said that the officials should properly ascertain the extent of damage caused to houses and belongings and offer relief assistance to the affected people accordingly. Houses should be built for those who lost them. To protect the livelihood of those who lost their houses, banks should help people buy milch animals and factory equipment.
Cutting across political lines, all parties should unite and carry out relief operations to help the victims. While relief aid was pouring in from various places for the victims, there was no firm strategy to take it forward to the targeted victims, he said and flayed those involved in pasting stickers on packages of relief materials.
Salt workers had been rendered jobless in the wake of rain and hence the government should provide compensation to them on a par with fishermen who received lean period assistance during the 45-day annual fishing ban period. Besides, there was no progress in desilting works in Srivaikuntam dam owing to political interference, he said.
S.S. Ramasubbu, former MP, C.S. Muralitharan, State deputy general secretary and district presidents S.D.R Vijayaseelan and P. Kathirvel accompanied him.
He flayed those involved in pasting stickers on packages of relief materials
http://www.thehindu.com/…/vasan-for-fool…/article7973900.ece