The Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh announced here today an additional amount of Rs. 1667 crore as a part of the short term relief/ reconstruction measures for the state of Jammu and Kashmir in a briefing to the media. Rajnath Singh mentioned that earlier an amount of Rs. 1602 crore had already been released from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for immediate relief to the flood affected families. An amount of Rs. 1000 crore has been released as Additional Special Plan Assistance and Rs. 770 crore sanctioned under the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF). Thus, a total of Rs.5039 crore has been provided for short term relief / reconstruction measures for the flood affected State of Jammu & Kashmir.
Shri Rajnath Singh mentioned that the Border Road Organisation has also been given directions to immediately repair the National Highway from Jammu to Srinagar. The Home Minister mentioned that a secure and peaceful environment is critical for all round economic and social development of the State. In the last one year, there has been significant improvement in the security situation in the State. Strict vigil and surveillance by the State Police and Security Forces has led to decline in the level of violence. During the current year, the number of terrorist incidents and infiltration attempts has also come down.The Union Finance Minister and the Minister for I&B, Shri Arun Jaitley informed that today’s announcement of Rs. 1667 crore includes Rs. 838 crore on account of pending liabilities of the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan 2014, Rs. 551 crore additional ex-gratia relief for repair / reconstruction of damaged kuccha houses, Rs. 172 crore for the tourism sector, Rs. 59 crore as subsidy for providing additional food grains and Rs. 47 crore for repair of damaged roads. Shri Jaitley provided the details of Rs. 770 crore sanctioned under the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF) which includes Rs. 570 crore is for reconstruction/repair of damaged pucca and kuccha houses, Rs. 175 crore for damaged medical equipments and Rs. 25 crore for text books to flood affected school children.
The Finance Minister also disclosed that for the long term rehabilitation package for the State, a team of senior officials of the Government of India including CEO, Niti Ayog and Secretary (Expenditure), Ministry of Finance will be visiting the State soon to assess damage and give suggestions/recommendations for various sectors of the State including Power, Roads, Tourism, Education, Health etc. On the basis of these recommendations a long term rehabilitation package will be worked out. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi visited the State on September 07, 2014 and announced Rs. 1000 crore Central assistance as first installment of relief. The Prime Minister again visited Kashmir on October 23, 2014 on the day of Diwali and announced Rs. 770 crore as additional Special Plan assistance under the PM National Relief Fund, Dr. Jitendra Singh added. The Finance Minster of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Haseeb Drabu thanked the Centre and mentioned that the required assistance given by the Centre will further help the people of the State. The Union Home Secretary, Shri L.C. Goyal, the Secretary (Expenditure), Ministry of Finance, Shri Ratan P. Watal and senior officers of Central and State government were present.