JOIN USTo oversee reconstruction of flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday formed a high-level panel comprising several ministers, who would guide the reconstruction and rehabilitation work.
Defence Minister A K Antony, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Road Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Housing Minister Girija Vyas, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat are the members of the committee.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and National Disaster Management Authority Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy have been made permanent invitees.
The prime minister announced Rs 1,000 crore for disaster relief measures in flood-devastated parts of Uttarakhand and released Rs 145 crore as immediate relief.
He had also announced ex-gratia assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who had lost their lives and Rs 50,000 each to the injured, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
The government has also decided to provide from PMNRF, an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to those whose houses have been completely destroyed and Rs 50,000 each to those whose houses have been damaged.
More funds
The government expects to receive more grants for the reconstruction work from multilateral development banks like World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and other countries.
As the aid can go up to thousands of crores, the committee is expected to see how the money would be used in a judicious and appropriate manner.