Govt urged to release pending drought relief package
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, September 09 2021:
Hills and Valley Relief Demand Committee (HVRDG), Manipur has urged the state government to initiate necessary process for releasing the pending relief assistance to those affected by the drought which occurred in 2019 .
A release jointly signed by HVRDC president Kh Inaobi and secretary P Gaichungpou stated that the state government had declared drought in 2019 and after assessing the field report, it submitted proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs for grant of relief assistance.
Subsequently the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) had sanctioned relief assistance for the state in 2020.However, till date the government is withholding the release of relief assistance to the affected persons thereby causing immense financial hardship, it stated.
As the victims of drought from both hills and valley have been enduring hardships for a long period of time the chief minister of Manipur should expedite the process for releasing the relief assistance for all the districts into the District Disaster Management Fund (DDMA) account for onward distribution to the victims' account, it said.
HVRDC also cautioned that in case the state government does not release the relief assistance by September 15, it would be compelled to resort to any form of democratic movement, consequences of which shall be the sole responsibility of the state government.