Criticising the Union and the Jammu and Kashmir governments for "inadequate" relief to the last year's flood victims, a Parliamentary committee today said the Centre should give liberal financial assistance to the state to compensate the people.
"We have discussed a number of issues, particularly the issue of relief of the people affected by the last year's floods. I must say that while the state government has informed us that it has done its best with the resources at its command, my own view, and that is the view of the members of the committee also, is that a lot more is required to be done.
"The relief and compensation given so far is totally unacceptable, inadequate and it does not constitute the reasonable compensation... I and the committee are of the view that it is not enough," head of the 16- member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, Ashwani Kumar, told reporters here.
Kumar said the central government should give liberal financial assistance as per the plans submitted by the state government to the Union government.
"In our report, we intend to make a strong case for liberal financial assistance to the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of relief and rehabilitation and compensation to the commercial establishments and also for reconstruction of the houses.
"There has been a suggestion that the business community, in order to kick-start their business, could be given loans on easy interest rates. This, I believe could be easily possible," he said.
