New Delhi, June 04: A long-term approach with
financial and legislative support including setting up a
corpus fund of Rs 500 crore to tackle calamities such as
drought and floods has been recommended by the Crisis
Managament Group in a report submitted to Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee here today.
Vajpayee, who heads the CMG , would convene a meeting of
leaders of all political parties and Chief Ministers to
discuss the report before a policy document is prepared and
rules are framed, CMG member Sharad Pawar told reporters after
submitting the report to the Prime Minister.
The report, which has been prepared after wide
consultations with various government agencies, NGOs and
experts both within the country and outside, includes the
views of political leaders and Chief Ministers, Pawar said.
Pointing out that the government's attitude vis-a-vis
calamities so far has been to act only when these occur, he
said the report "outlines a long-term approach with financial
and legislative support on all major issues like drought,
floods, rail accidents".
He said droughts every year cost the country between 16
and 18 per cent of its income while floods lead to loss of
about 20 per cent on account of income, necessitating urgent
steps to counter these calamities.
The report recommends that a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore
be created, and some per cent of it be used to tackle the
calamities, Pawar said.
"Leaders of all political parties, including Congress
President Sonia Gandhi, have taken it seriously", he said,
hoping its recommendations would be implemented at Central,
State and Village level.
Bureau report
