Pinarayi Vijayan meets Rajnath Singh, urges him to expedite release of flood relief funds for Kerala

New Delhi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and requested him to expedite the process of giving financial assistance to the state, which faced unprecedented rains leading to floods and massive damage, officials said. Vijayan briefed Singh about the prevailing situation in Kerala and the steps taken by his government to bring back normalcy in the state. The chief minister has requested the home minister to expedite the process of giving financial relief to Kerala for the recent floods, a home ministry official said. Last week, an inter-ministerial team, headed by a special secretary of the home ministry, visited Kerala for five days to assess the damage caused by the recent devastating floods. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. PTI[/caption] The team visited Kerala after the state government sent a detailed memorandum seeking Rs 4,700 crore as compensation for the damage occurred due to rains and floods, considered to be worst in a century. At least 488 people have died in Kerala due to the rains and floods this monsoon, which hit 14 districts of the state. The Kerala government memorandum comprises details about the loss of human lives, properties, infrastructure and crops, another official said. In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, the state government submits a detailed memorandum indicating sector-wise details of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations of immediate nature. Accordingly, the Kerala government sent the memorandum. As per the existing guidelines, the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visits the state for on-the-spot assessment of damage and additional requirement of funds. The IMCT report is considered by the Sub-Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union home secretary in conformity with the norms and then by a high-level committee, chaired by the home minister for approving the quantum of additional assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund. On 21 August, the central government had released Rs 600 crore to flood-hit Kerala as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Rs 500 crore) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rs 100 crore) during their visits to the state. This was in addition to Rs 562.45 crore already made available in State Disaster Relief Fund of the state.