Gandhinagar, Sep 22 (PTI) The Gujarat government on Wednesday announced that it would substantially increase the financial assistance to be given to the people affected by heavy rains in three districts of the state.

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The decision to raise the amount was taken by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel during his first cabinet meeting here.

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Due to heavy rains in various parts of Rajkot, Junagadh and Jamnagar districts last week, a total of 14 persons have lost their lives in various incidents, while hundreds of people were temporarily shifted to safer places, state Revenue minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters after the meeting here.

Gujarat Education Minister and state government spokesperson, Jitubhai Vaghani, said, "Following representations from people as well as elected representatives, the CM decided to increase the financial assistance to compensate for various losses, such as house damage or death of cattle."

Instead of Rs 3,800 currently being given as per the State Disaster Response Fund norms, the government will provide Rs 7,000 to those who have lost their household items in the flood last week in these three districts, said an official release.

For a damaged shanty, the state government has increased the assistance from Rs 4,100 to Rs 10,000, an increase of Rs 5,900.

For a partly damaged kutcha house in these three districts, the government will give Rs 10,000 to each eligible claimant, a hike of Rs 6,800. Similarly, the state government has increased the assistance for a partly damaged pucca house from Rs 5,200 to Rs 15,000.

As per the prevalent SDRF norms, people are entitled to get Rs 30,000 for the loss of each cattle such as milch cow or buffalo, in the limit of three cattle, said the release.

Now, affected cattle rearers of these districts will get Rs 50,000 on each dead cattle, a hike of Rs 20,000.

Moreover, the cap has been increased from three to five cattle, the release said.

For each sheep and goat killed during the rain, the assistance has been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000. To repair a damaged cattle shed, the state government will give Rs 5,000, a hike of Rs 2,900, said the release.

Vaghani told reporters that a detailed survey of losses was currently underway and compensation would be given to the affected people after the assessment gets over.

(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)