There’s yet another deadline on paying compensation to farmers. Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar has assured the House that disbursement of financial aid to farmers affected by natural calamities will be completed by August. This comes barely a week after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured compensation to flood-affected citizens within 15 days. To top it all, it has now come to light that Goa has not sought any financial assistance offered by the Centre to compensate those who have suffered massive losses on account of the fury unleashed by Cyclone Tauktae on May 16.
The reply in Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai comes as a shocker that Goa is among the three states which have not put up demands for financial help over Cyclone Tauktae, the other two being Kerala and Jharkhand.
Cyclone Tauktae had wreaked havoc in Goa, the worst of its kind since 1994, causing intense damage to life and property. Trees were uprooted, houses damaged, and crops and plantations destroyed. The cyclone left behind a trail of destruction, severely hitting farmers and fishing communities. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had pegged the losses at Rs 146 crore, while Kavlekar has put the flood loss at Rs 9 crore.
Goa was not the only State that came in the eye of Tauktae. Gujarat suffered colossal damage, while Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were others that faced the brunt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while reviewing the situation had announced financial relief to the affected States with an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured. States and Union Territories have already put up their papers and got their share of compensation sanctioned. Gujarat received Rs 1,000 crore while Odisha and West Bengal got Rs 500 crore and Rs 300 crore respectively. It is baffling to understand why there is no claim for central assistance from Goa, despite the financial strain it is currently facing.
Interestingly, Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha last week disclosed that Goa is among the few states that reported zero orphans between April-May 2021 when the second Covid wave was at its peak. The Centre had appealed to States to report all children who have lost one or both parents so that they could be covered under the PM-Cares for Children Scheme. Goa has lost over a thousand lives during this phase, but Central government data shows there are no orphans registered during that period.
The State government cannot afford to let go of any Central compensation. The cyclone has come crashing, floods have ravaged farmland, and all of this has crippled life further. Affected citizens need timely relief, not vague excuses, deadlines and promises.
