Naveen seeks early sanction of Rs 399 cr Phailin assistance

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Centre to sanction Rs 399.83 crore as ‘Phailin’ assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), which was pending due to an erroneous assessment by an inter-ministerial committee.

In a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Patnaik said the state did not get its legitimate dues due to an erroneous assessment by the inter-ministerial central team in the high-level committee meeting chaired by the then Agriculture Minister Sharad Power.

He said the state government had managed the devastating cyclonic storm Phailin before and aftermath in Oct 2013.

He said the union Home Ministry informed the state government that Rs 399.83 crore was approved after it pointed out the error.

However, the central government is yet to sanction the amount despite several requests to the Prime Minister, said the Chief Minister in the letter.