Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

War of words over Central team’s visit

K.P. Rajendran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran has said that the State government had taken all steps necessary for an early visit by the Central team to assess the damages wrought by the recent rain. The Minister has accused Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy of having mounted an attack on the government over the issue, concealing the relevant facts.

In a statement here on Tuesday, the Minister said the Chief Minister had sent letters to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Home and Agriculture immediately on the commencement of the rain. Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas and he had called on the Prime Minister and the two Ministers to apprise them of the gravity of the situation. The Union government had assured the State that a team would be sent immediately to assess the damage.

Following this, the State government prepared an elaborate plan for the team’s visit to eight districts, and submitted a detailed memorandum prepared according to Central norms to the team through the Resident Commissioner in Delhi.

However, there was a delay in appointing some members of the team. They were appointed only after the State wrote once again to the Home Minister, pointing out the delay in the visit.

The Central team reached Kochi on April 3 night. Discussions were held with the members of the team and a memorandum submitted to them the same night. The team toured the rain-hit parts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Thrissur and Malappuram and held discussions with MPs, MLAs, functionaries of the local bodies and representatives of farmers in each of these districts. On April 5, the Ministers, Chief Secretary, senior officers and District Collectors met the team at Thrissur and held discussions.

The team expressed total satisfaction with all the steps taken by the State government, and expressed the view that the memorandum submitted by the State had proved to be helpful to them. The Opposition Leader was trying to blame the government concealing all these facts, Mr. Rajendran said.

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