Gujarat received no assistance from Centre during floods: Minister

Gandhinagar, Mar 12 (UNI) Gujarat has not received any financial assistance from the Centre towards rehabilitation of people affected by last year's floods in Surat and elsewhere in the state, Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel told the Legislative Assembly today.

Mr Patel's statement, however, evoked strong protests from the Congress who alleged that the Minister was misleading the House.

During the Question Hour, the Minister stated that the Centre had not provided any financial assistance to the state despite Gujarat's submission that it had incurred losses to the tune of Rs 22,771 crore.

At this, Congress members, led by Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhwadia, rose to their feet and alleged that the Minister was misleading the House.

In the midst of this, Mr Patel told the House that the state had received Central aid of Rs 1,281-crore during the last two years for natural calamities but this amount was not meant for last year's flood affected.

The Minister was replying to a written question by Congress chief whip Balwantsinh Rajput, who had wanted to know the extent of Central funds received for the flood affected.

The Minister clarified that of the Rs 1,281 crore received, Rs 792 crore was for the current fiscal but none of it had come from the Natural Calamity Contingency Fund.

He further informed that Rs 350 crore of the total amount received was meant to tackle future calamities while Rs 195 crore was intended for undertaking long-term restoration projects. These projects have, however, not yet been cleared by the Centre, he said.

UNI