Centre delaying Gaja compensation disbursal: Tamil Nadu

Appearing before the Division Bench of Justices K K Sasidharan and P D Audikesavalu, which heard a petition seeking adequate compensation for the cyclone victims and farmers, Additional Advocate General Chellapandian informed the court that the Centre was delaying the process of sanctioning the relief fund.

Despite submitting all the required data, the Central Government was seeking unnecessary explanations with an intent to delay the process. Relief and restoration works have so far been carried out using only the relief fund allotted by the State Government.

While the state has demanded a relief assistance of Rs 15,000 crore for the cyclone-hit victims and to carry out restoration works in Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Dindigul districts, the Central Government was yet to provide any fund directly for the cyclone relief work, Chellapandian said.

Assistant Solicitor General of India V Kathirvel intervened and argued that it was the State Government which wascausing the delay.

“The state provided the additional information on Gaja’s impact, as sought by the Centre, on Sunday. Since it was a holiday, there was a delay in receiving the information. The Tamil Nadu government sent the information on December 18 only after a reminder,” Kathirvel said, adding that the Centre would decide on providing compensation after getting the complete data on Gaja damage.

The court was hearing the petition filed by several persons belonging to Madurai, Ramanthapuram and Thanjavur, which sought adequate compensation to victims and farmers who lost their crops in the cyclone. They also demanded that areas affected by Gaja be declared as ‘National disaster hit’ areas.

The petitioners’ counsel claimed that the Central Government was providing a step-motherly treatment to Tamil Nadu. When Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were struck by cyclone, the Centre offered its help by extending direct relief funds to these states.

However, the damage caused by cyclone Gaja were more in Tamil Nadu, he said.

“The victims of cyclone Gaja are also citizens of India. They are yet to recover from the incident. Hence, the Centre should provide adequate relief funds. A couple of days ago, two crestfallen farmers after being unable withstand damages caused to their crops, committed suicide.

Therefore, both the State and Centre should intensify measures to restore normalcy in the cyclone-affected areas,” he added.

On hearing the petitions, the judges asked the Centre’s counsel whether the State Government’s data was sufficient and by when the decision on extending the compensation would be taken. They then adjourned the case for another hearing today.