The J&K State Committee of CPI (M) has described the present Centre’s flood rehabilitation and reconstruction package grossly inadequate and squarely against the expectations of the affected people of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is in utter disregard of the previous government’s memorandum to Government of India regarding grant of Rs 44000 crore as rehabilitation package. It is also nowhere near the tall promises of the PDP-BJP coalition government.
It may be recalled that the September 2014 flood in J&K, especially in Kashmir valley, was unprecedented and the devastation caused by it was beyond imagination
The comprehensive rehabilitation package should have included reconstructing of the damaged infrastructure, rehabilitation of those who lost their residential houses, compensation to farmers and orchardists whose crops were destroyed and land eroded; support to business community and those engaged in tourist trade, compensation to Gujjar-bakarwal and shepherd communities, whose livestock perished in the floods and torrential rains. There should also have been a major thrust for overhauling the flood control system to avoid such a situation in future. This needed empathy, large heartedness and a positive effort to win the people in distress. This was however not done and as such was discouraging. The so called “short term relief and reconstruction measures” pegged at a mere Rs 1667 crore is not only peanuts but a cruel joke. One is intrigued why the Centre did not take Kashmir floods at par with the disasters, which overtook some other states in the recent past.
Political sensitivities of the state too demanded full funding for the reconstruction and providing of much required relief to the sufferers who are living a miserable life and are now rendered hopeless.
As the Union Finance Minister has enumerated that out of Rs 1667 crores Rs 838 crore will go to pending liabilities of 2014 under Prime Minister’s reconstruction Programme, Rs 172 Crore for tourism sector, Rs 59 crore as subsidy for additional food grains and Rs 47 crore for repair of the damaged National Highway. This leaves a small amount of Rs 551 crore as ex-gratia for the repair and reconstruction of damaged/destroyed houses. The amount is quite insufficient and disappointing.
It may be recalled that even the world bank in its conservative estimate, had put the losses due to September 2014 flood in J&K at Rs 21,000 crore. Keeping in view the whole scenario, the offer of the Central Govt. is no more than mere alms and CPI (M) vehemently demands reconsideration of the package on priority. This is required keeping in view the untold miseries being faced by the affected people of the State, especially those of the valley of Kashmir.