Will Work With Govt To Get People of Wayanad Compensation: Rahul
Rahul has written to Narendra Singh Tomar, Harsh Vardhan and Nitin Gadkari to seek help for flood rehabilitation.
In Kerala for the second time in August, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 27 August visited people at relief camps in Wayanad, his Lok Sabha constituency, which has seen widespread devastation recently. Speaking to ANI, Gandhi stressed that the main issue now was compensation and rehabilitation.
“The people of Wayanad have reacted with great, tremendous spirit. The main issue here is compensation and rehabilitation. People have lost their farms, they’ve lost their livelihood, they’ve lost their homes. The government has certain rules with regards to compensation. So we’re going to sort of work with the government to make sure that people are compensated here,” he said.
Gandhi also stressed the same in a speech in which he addressed the people of Wayanad.
Taking stock of the flood relief measures, Gandhi said, “I'm not the chief minister of Kerala. We don't have a government in Kerala or at the national level. But it is my responsibility to ensure that what is your right is given to you."
Gandhi, who arrived in Wayanad on a four-day visit, distributed relief materials to the people in the camps at Chungam and Valad and heard their woes.
Some said their houses had been destroyed and lands washed away, while others complained that the initial relief amount of Rs 10,000 from the state government was yet to reach them. Gandhi assured them that he would once again urge the state government to provide all the necessary assistance to the affected people, PTI reported.
Demands Expansion of MGNREGA in Kerala
The Wayanad MP has demanded that the minimum guaranteed days of employment under MGNREGA be raised to 200 days in a year in flood-hit Kerala and the scope of work be expanded for taking up flood rehabilitation work, PTI reported.
In a letter to Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, he said the ministry has made special dispensation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA natural calamities) in calamity-affected areas in the past.
He said Kerala has witnessed one of the worst floods in the last few decades and the heavy rains, inundation and landslides have left people homeless, and rendered thousands of houses uninhabitable due to the deposition of mud and slit.
He said that Section 3(4) of the MGNERA Act, 2005 empowers the central government to increase the number of days of employment beyond the guaranteed period and the Rural Development Ministry should make special dispensation in calamity affected villages, blocks, taluks and districts notified by the state government.
While the MGNREGA Act guaranteed 100 days of minimum employment, the government had announced in the budget this year to increase the minimum guaranteed days of employment to 150 days in a year.
Letters to Gadkari and Harsh Vardhan
According to NDTV, in a letter addressed to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, he demanded that funds should be released in order to rebuild roads that were damaged because of the flood that hit Wayanad. He further mentioned that repairs are required on as many as 20 stretches on the national highway connecting Kerala and Karnataka.
"Landslides, road caving and other mishaps have caused extensive damage to the national highways. Restoration of damaged roads must be accorded highest priority for ensuring early recovery," he wrote, NDTV reported.
According to IANS, Rahul Gandhi will be on a three-day visit to Wayanad in Kerala which begins on Tuesday, 27 August, to take stock of flood relief measures.
The monsoon fury had claimed over 100 lives in Kerala and around 1.5 lakh people have taken refuge in relief camps across the state.
(With inputs from NDTV, ANI, IANS and PTI)
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