THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the compensation announced for the next of kin of those who died in Ockhi cyclone will be given in one instalment. The break up of Rs 20 lakh amount has also been decided by Cabinet. Rs 5 lakh for parents who are fully dependent, Rs 5 lakh for unmarried sisters of the deceased besides funds for the education and upbringing of children.
The Chief Minister said the work on providing relief to Ockhi victims was going on war footing. The state government has demanded Rs 1,843 crore from National Disaster Management Fund for emergency assistance and long term rehabilitation, relief and welfare measures of the persons affected by Ockhi cyclone, he said.
Mr Vijayan said the response of Union home minister Rajnath Singh and defence minister Nirmala Seetharaman indicated that the Centre was fully conscious of the devastation caused by Ockhi. The home minister has promised to send a Central team to Kerala to assess the damage, he said. The Chief Minister said the secretary level committees constituted at the last Cabinet were fully engaged with the task of finalising norms for relief, rehabilitation and compensation.
Of the Rs 20 lakh compensation announced, Rs 10 lakh is from the state government, Rs 5 lakh each from fisheries department and fish workers welfare board. Since it will take a longer period for getting insurance money from the welfare board, it has been decided that for now the money would be taken from corpus fund and later recouped, he added. The Chief Minister said in view of the huge devastation even those who are not members of the welfare board would be granted compensation from the welfare fund. He allayed fears among a section of people about this matter.
Mr Vijayan said the process of providing compensation will be expedited to ensure that money reaches the affected families in time. Officials have been directed to visit the houses of affected families to get the required formalities completed.
