India News | Concerns over Landslide-affected List Will Be Addressed: Kerala Minister
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan on Thursday assured that complaints regarding the list of beneficiaries for the Chooralmala-Mundakai landslide rehabilitation in this hill district would be addressed.
Wayanad (Kerala), Mar 13 (PTI) Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan on Thursday assured that complaints regarding the list of beneficiaries for the Chooralmala-Mundakai landslide rehabilitation in this hill district would be addressed.
Speaking to the media after a review meeting at the District Collectorate, Rajan acknowledged that duplication in the list was a serious mistake but assured that the issue would be examined and resolved.
He emphasised that no eligible person would be excluded from the rehabilitation process, which would be carried out with humanitarian considerations.
Complaints submitted to the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) would be reviewed sympathetically before being presented to the government, he added.
The scheme providing Rs 300 per day as wages for victims has been extended for nine months, with payments to be disbursed retroactively from this month, Rajan said.
The current rehabilitation plan includes allocating seven cents of land and a house to each affected family from the massive landslides that struck on July 30 last year.
However, the list of disaster-affected victims has sparked widespread protests, as many eligible individuals were excluded while some names appeared twice. Despite the Revenue Minister's announcement that the foundation stone for a township would be laid on March 27, authorities have yet to finalise the list.
Earlier, the Janasabdam Action Committee staged a protest in front of the Wayanad District Collectorate on Monday, demanding 10 cents of land instead of the seven cents announced by the government.
Following discussions with the Revenue Minister, the protesters called off their strike.
"We raised concerns about increasing the land allocation to 10 cents, pending house rent payments for those staying in rented homes, and the disbursement of Rs 300 per day as wages. After receiving a positive response from the minister, we decided to end the protest," a Janasabdam Action Committee functionary told a TV channel.
Congress leader and Kalpetta MLA T Siddique alleged that the government had completely failed in the rehabilitation process, as it had not even finalised the list of disaster-affected victims eight months after the landslides.
The Kerala government has approved a comprehensive rehabilitation project for survivors of the devastating landslides. The project includes establishing two townships to provide a safe and sustainable living environment for those affected.
The landslides that struck Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad on July 30 last year claimed over 200 lives, left many injured, and nearly wiped out both areas.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)