Patil assures big flood-relief amount to Kerala

New Delhi, Aug 30 (UNI) Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today assured a '' substantially big amount'' of flood-relief to Left-ruled Kerala while stating no discrimination will be done in disbursement of relief and rehabilitation packages to states affected by it.

Replying to a prolonged discussion on the flood situation in the country in the Lok Sabha, Mr Patil said let the Kerala government submit a plan to check sea erosion and the Centre would consider it.

Accepting that the Centre had given special packages to flood-hit states in the past, Mr Patil said it could consider in case of Bihar and other states, including Karnataka, when members from the respective states pressed for it.

The Minister said it was wrong to say 22 states had been affected by floods, but admitted that Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar had been worst-hit.

Declining to give any commitment on waiving agri-loans in the states hit by floods waters, Mr Patil said it was for the Union Cabinet to decide but assured the Centre will take a considerate view of the plight of states hard hit by floods.

On whether MPs can provide relief to the affected from MPLAD funds, the Minister said it can be done with the permission of the Speaker, adding he had done so in case of a hospital.

On the status of inter-linking of rivers plan across the country, Mr Patil said it was a difficult proposition pending since the days of K L Rao, who had mooted the proposal during the Indira Gandhi regime. Mr Ananth Kumar of BJP objected to it, saying the plan was mooted by the Vajpayee government and the Supreme Court has sought to know its status.

But the Home Minister said the Centre would have no difficulty in giving its nod to plans relating to linking of rivers within a state provided it did not affect neighbouring states.

Like Mr Kumar, Choudhary Lal Singh of Congress had a face-off with Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz on the issue of damming of the Ujh river. When the Minister said he had talked to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Choudhary stood up and asked what Badal had to do with it. In the commotion that ensued, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal called for Special Mentions, ending discussion on the flood situation.

Earlier, the Home Minister took great pains in educating members on the distinction between relief and rehabilitation, lamenting that they did not know procedures to be followed in seeking relief and rehab package from the Centre for their states.

EDS: Here pick up suitably from earlier series.

UNI