GANGTOK, 17 Oct: A delegation of Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee [SPCC] led by senior vice president, KN Upreti, and accompanied by former Minister, Phuchung Bhutia, AICC members Avinash Yakha and Laxuman Gurung submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, East, today, conveying dissatisfaction over the distribution of Earthquake relief to victims, informs a press release issued by Mr. Upreti.
After receiving complaints from the public, the delegation visited five constituencies from 14 to 16 Oct and found a lot of discrimination and discrepancies in distribution of cash relief and discovered that many have been left out from assessment by the Panchayats, the release contends.
The release also mentions that the DC East has extended the last date for receiving complaints for 5 more days and assured the delegation that those left out will be covered and injustices, if any, will be rectified.
The memorandum submitted to the DC enlists the discrepancies noticed during the SPCC team’s three-day visit. It is mentioned that in distribution of relief money, full responsibility was given to Panchayats and no Government or District authority was present to counter check their action.
Cash relief was distributed not as per the damage caused but on the whims and wishes of the Panchayats, it is alleged. As a result, some panchayats were fair but most of the panchayats were biased towards SPCC supporters and their relatives, the SPCC group contends.
Since no concrete guidelines were provided by the Govt or District authorities, there was variation in assessment and payment from Panchayat to Panchayat, the petition adds, claiming that the cash relief was not given as per the announcement made by the Chief Minister immediately after the Earthquake.
There is also no assurance from the Panchayat and the area MLAs on whether the government will sanction a new house for those whose houses have been completely damaged, the petition adds.
The memorandum further requests the DC to conduct a “re-survey and re-assessment” of the damage caused by the Earthquake and cash relief sanctioned, failing which SPCC will approach the Governor and the Central Government in “the interest and for the justice of the victims of Earthquake”.
After receiving complaints from the public, the delegation visited five constituencies from 14 to 16 Oct and found a lot of discrimination and discrepancies in distribution of cash relief and discovered that many have been left out from assessment by the Panchayats, the release contends.
The release also mentions that the DC East has extended the last date for receiving complaints for 5 more days and assured the delegation that those left out will be covered and injustices, if any, will be rectified.
The memorandum submitted to the DC enlists the discrepancies noticed during the SPCC team’s three-day visit. It is mentioned that in distribution of relief money, full responsibility was given to Panchayats and no Government or District authority was present to counter check their action.
Cash relief was distributed not as per the damage caused but on the whims and wishes of the Panchayats, it is alleged. As a result, some panchayats were fair but most of the panchayats were biased towards SPCC supporters and their relatives, the SPCC group contends.
Since no concrete guidelines were provided by the Govt or District authorities, there was variation in assessment and payment from Panchayat to Panchayat, the petition adds, claiming that the cash relief was not given as per the announcement made by the Chief Minister immediately after the Earthquake.
There is also no assurance from the Panchayat and the area MLAs on whether the government will sanction a new house for those whose houses have been completely damaged, the petition adds.
The memorandum further requests the DC to conduct a “re-survey and re-assessment” of the damage caused by the Earthquake and cash relief sanctioned, failing which SPCC will approach the Governor and the Central Government in “the interest and for the justice of the victims of Earthquake”.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Readers are invited to comment on, criticise, run down, even appreciate if they like something in this blog. Comments carrying abusive/ indecorous language and personal attacks, except when against the people working on this blog, will be deleted. It will be exciting for all to enjoy some earnest debates on this blog...