Rs 1 lakh additional ex gratia for flood victims

Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today announced an additional Rs 1 lakh ex gratia for the families of those who died in the recent floods in the state.

This is in addition to the Rs 1.5 lakh already announced. While the state government announced an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 each for the families, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced Rs 1 lakh during his recent visit to the flood-affected areas in Andhra Pradesh.

Today's announcement will take the total ex gratia to Rs 2.5 lakh for each family of the flood victims. Over 100 persons died in the rains and flood-related incidents during the first week of August, according to official figures.

While replying to a discussion on flood relief operations in the state legislative assembly on Monday, the chief minister said his government had acted with utmost compassion and care in attending to the hardships of the flood-affected people.

He rejected the opposition claim that the relief measures undertaken by the government were inadequate and insufficient.

"Of late, I have found certain newspapers highlighting trivial incidents without checking facts while relegating important news such as the government's decision to strengthen bunds on both sides of the Godavari river to avert similar situation at a cost of over Rs 1,000 crore to the background," the chief minister observed.