Following is the
text of the statement made by the Home Minister, Shri Shivraj Patil in Parliament today regarding relief and
rehabilitation of Tsunami affected people:-
“As all the Hon’ble Members are
aware, the Tsunami of 26th December, 2004 has caused extensive
damage to life and property in the States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh
and UTs of Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The tsunami was triggered due to an earthquake of 8.6 (Mw) magnitude which
occurred at 0629 IST of west coast of Sumatra Island (Indonesia) on that day. This kind of disaster has been experienced
for the first time in the country. It
also affected other countries in the Indian Ocean, namely, Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Maldives and even the east coast of Africa.
2. The Tsunami affected a
population of 27.92 lakh in 1089 villages in
the five States and UTs. 10273
people lost their lives and 5823 people are said to be missing and feared dead. Most of the missing persons are from the Nicobar Islands. 530 children have been rendered
orphaned. 35605 livestock was also lost
besides damage to about 22,000 hectares of cropped area. The Tsunami disaster has badly hit
the fishermen community who not only lost their near and dear ones but also
lost their means of livelihood. 2.39
lakh dwelling units and over 83,000 boats were damaged. There has also been extensive damage to the
infrastructure including harbours, jetties, roads, bridges, power, telecom,
hospitals, schools and other social sector buildings.
3. The Government of India
coordinated, monitored and reviewed the National efforts in providing logistics
and financial support to the affected States/UTs. The Ministry of Home Affairs, being the nodal Ministry,
coordinated the relief efforts. The strategy to deal with the Tsunami Disaster
was divided into three phases; immediate relief and response; temporary rehabilitation and restoration of
infrastructure and long term
rehabilitation and reconstruction. The Cabinet Committee/Group of Ministers on
Disaster Management under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister regularly
reviewed the situation. The Armed
Forces provided round the clock logistic support for undertaking relief, rescue
and evacuation operations. The
Government of India and the affected States/UTs worked together in facing the great challenge. The National response has been
overwhelming. The States not affected
by tsunami came forward to provide
required relief at the crucial stage.
It was because of this support of the people of the country that we have
been able to respond to the disaster with our own resources and did not require
any external assistance for relief and response. Not only this, the country also provided, to a limited
extent, relief assistance to the
Tsunami affected countries of Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia.
4. It may be recalled that the Government had made a
presentation before the All Party meting on 9th January, 2005 on the
measures taken for handling the
disaster. Later on members of the
Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs were also
briefed about these measures on 24th
January, 2005. The Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the Finance Minister, the
Agriculture Minister, myself and other Union Ministers visited the affected
areas. The Chairperson of UPA, the
Leaders of Political Parties and Members Parliament have also visited the affected areas. The feedback from these visits has been very useful in framing
our policies and response for the affected people.
5. The Prime
Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs.1.00 lakh to the next of the kin of the
deceased and an amount of Rs.450 crore was released as an immediate assistance
from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) to the States of
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra
Pradesh. In addition, an amount of
Rs.50.00 crore to Pondicherry and Rs.200.00 crore for Andamans was also
earmarked.
6. The massive relief and rescue operations launched by the
States and the Government of India has helped in normalizing the situation very
early. About 20,900 personnel from
Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and
Para Military Forces were deployed.
40 Naval/Coast Guards ships, 34
aircrafts and 42 helicopters were part
of the massive operations. 28,734
persons were rescued on the mainland and more than 6000 stranded people
including tourists from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, were brought to the
mainland. 6.36 lakh persons in all were
moved to safer places and kept in 930 relief camps.
7. The Ministry of Home Affairs had designated the relief
supply hubs in different parts of the country from where relief was mobilized
with the help of the respective State Governments. A total of 13, 639 MT of relief material has been transported to
the affected areas of which 994.67 MT is by air, 7,763.70 MT by ship and
2,761.50 MT by Rail. All the concerned
Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, namely, Telecom, Health,
Power, Petroleum, Civil Aviation, Defence, Drinking Water Supply, Road,
Transport & Highways provided necessary emergency support in dealing with the
situation. It is a matter of great
relief that in spite of such a huge
tragedy, no epidemic was reported from any of the affected areas. A team of 2000 doctors worked continuously
to take care of the health sector.
8. The Government of India, considering the fact that most of
the people affected by the Tsunami disaster belong to weaker sections of the
society and the fishermen community in particular were worst hit, approved a
special package of Rs.3644.05 crore named as “Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package
for Tsunami affected areas” to provide assistance for immediate relief and
response, revival of fishery and agriculture sectors, immediate construction of
temporary (intermediate) shelters and repair/restoration of infrastructure
besides special relief to orphans, unmarried girls above 18 years of age,
widows and disabled . The package for
Tamil Nadu is Rs.2347.19 crore, Andhra Pradesh – Rs.70.00 crore, Kerala –Rs.
249.36 crore, Pondicherry – Rs.155.62 crore, Andaman & Nicobar Islands –
Rs.821.88 crore.
9. For revival of the fishery sector, the Government has
decided to provide full subsidy to the fishermen who have lost their Catamaran
(wooden boats). Such fishermen also
have the option now to switch over to boats with motors upto unit cost of Rs.1.50 lakh. In this category the fishermen will be
entitled for 50% subsidy and 50% loan.
The bank loans will carry interest @ 7% and interest subsidy of 2% will
be reimbursed in case of prompt repayments. The moratorium for the loan payment
will be 1-1/2 years and repayment period will be 7 years after that. The affected fishermen will be entitled to
get the loan even if the earlier loans are outstanding. For fishermen who have not lost their boats
but these have been damaged, full subsidy up to Rs.10,000 has been approved for
repair of damaged boats. This package
has been announced in relaxation of the existing norms and it is the first time that assistance in a natural
disaster is being provided on such a scale.
10. The Government has also considered the fact that the fishermen
and others have lost their houses. For
the inter-mediate period, the Government has provided funds to the States for
construction of temporary (inter-mediate) shelters. These are proposed to be constructed before the onset of the
coming monsoon. The Government has also
decided to provide permanent housing by way of a minimum of two room dwelling
unit to each of the family who had lost the house in the Tsunami disaster. These houses will be multi-hazard proof and
the designs are being finalized. It is
the intention of the Government. that the new settlements for permanent housing
are properly planned with all the required social infrastructure and civic
amenities. The Government of India will
also be bearing the cost of acquisition of land for these new settlements.
11. In case of Andaman & Nicobar Islands where the agriculture
sector has been extensively damaged, the Government has approved a special
package for revival of agriculture sector at a cost of Rs.239.54 crore.
12. There is no doubt that revival of the livelihood of the
affected people will take some time.
Generally the sustenance allowance for the interim period has been
allowed in the past for about 30 days.
However for the Tsunami affected people, the Government of India is
bearing the cost of sustenance for a period of 90 days and, if necessary, it
will be extended further. The
Government wants to assure the people
affected by the unprecedented disaster that not only the Governments but the Nation stand behind them and no
effort will be spared to ensure that they resume their normal life and a better
life at the earliest. It is a matter of
great satisfaction that the community and the State Governments are taking due
care of the orphaned children.
13. A Core Group under the Planning Commission has also been
constituted to plan and make provisions for long term rehabilitation,
reconstruction and providing multi hazard proof permanent houses. Whereas no external assistance was sought
for immediate relief and response, the Government is considering such assistance from multi-lateral agencies like
World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union and the UN agencies for long
term reconstruction purposes. Once the
Core Group finalises its plan of action, the package for long term
reconstruction will be announced .
14. The Government has decided to set up Tsunami Early Warning
System in the Indian Ocean. The Department of Ocean Development has already
initiated work in this regard.
15. A Bill
will also be introduced in the current Session of the Parliament for enacting a
legislation on disaster management. A National Disaster Management Authority is
separately being notified with the Prime Minister as its Chairman. Building up
the capacity both at the National and State levels, setting up the National
Disaster Response Force and measures for mitigation are the areas of immediate
attention of the Government.”
OK/PM/MM