Senior Congress Leader J&K and MLA Inderwal, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori today concluded the twenty long day’s tour of Srinagar flood affected areas.On his last day tour to flood affected areas Saroori said it was not only public and private properties that have been devastated by the floods. "Crops, horticultural produce, farmers and orchardists have suffered heavy losses."According to a statement issued to KNS Saroori urged the government to waive off taxes on construction material, including cement, timber, bricks, plywood, all the Agriculturalists and Horticulturalists loans including Kisan Credit Card scheme so that people are able to rebuild their shattered homes and restored the inundated land under MGNREGA Scheme.He said that Congress party has set up around 30 medical camps at different places across the affected areas and more such camps are likely to come up at other places. He assured people about all the possible help and Congress full support to rebuild Kashmir.Saroori who was heading the Congress team in Srinagar also met with Vice President AICC Rahul Gandhi and briefed him about the situation in Srinagar, he urge Rahul Gandhi to take up the special package matter with Union Government. Rahul Gandhi assured that Congress party will stress central government to rehabilitate flood-hit people at the earliest as was done by UPA government during flood fury in Uttrakhand.
Earlier Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad called a meeting at his residence Haiderpur Srinagar where he met with Congress team headed by G. M. Saroori and Doctors who are providing consultation and counseling to the needy peoples in the medical camps set up by Azad “Educate people about water borne and other communicable diseases and made them aware about the precautions to be taken to prevent these diseases,” Azad said while chairing a Doctors & congress team meeting.Saroori also visited Secretariat where he met with Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, Ali Mohammad Sagar and pressed him to release the funds for clearance of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) liabilities in J&K including erstwhile district Doda. Senior officials of rural development department were also present on the occasion.
Sagar who gave patient hearing to Saroori and after discussing the matter with the officials of his department, he on spot has released a sum of Rs130 crores for clearance of liabilities under MGNREGA.It is pertinent to mention here that erstwhile district Doda has Rs 65 crores liabilities under MGNREGA for that Union Government who has sanctioned 160 crores last month and still Rs30 crores has not been released by the finance department to RDD, he has requested Principal Secretary Finance, B.B.Vyas to immediately release the remaining funds meant for MGNREGA . He has also urge to centre government to release the balance funds of Rs350 crores for MGNREGA so that new work will be taken up in J&K state.
Prominent among those Haji Abdul Rashid Dar-Former Minister, Salman Nizami- Joint Secretary PCC, President Indian Youth Congress (IYC) Lok Sabha Srinagar Sheikh Aamir Rasool, Congress leader Manzoor Ahmed Bhat & Asif Baig. In the meeting with Azad, Dr Mahendra, Dr Vivek Dorai, Dr Vishwajeet Naik, Dr Mahesh, Dr Sanath, Dr Ramesh, Dr Sarhidhar, Dr Sayanand, Dr Manohar MC, Dr Umesh, Dr Abhinav, Dr Satish, Dr Narhima Murithy and others were present. (KNS).