BJP claims flood-hit families in Garo Hills yet to get assistance from govt

SHILLONG, Oct 13: At a time when Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma is seeking funds to address the Garo Hills flood, state BJP vice president and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak on Sunday alleged that the poor affected families in the region have not received any financial assistance and rehabilitation.
In a letter to the CM, Marak said while the rain-induced floods and landslides caused irreparable damage in the Garo Hills, many families who lost their houses and property in disasters earlier are yet to receive financial assistance. “Many did not even receive PMAY houses and ration cards, which is concerning,” he said.
According to him, the government did not focus on the Aadhaar-based payment directly to the account of each beneficiary, as a result of which the affected families did not receive any financial assistance.
“I observed that the forms provided by some officials did not have options for Aadhaar and bank account details, which I believe could be the reason for no direct benefit. So, to ease the work of the authorities, I mechanised a system to get complete details of the affected families which are being filled up by the villagers irrespective of party affiliation and will be submitted to you at the earliest,” he said.
Stating that they (the BJP) will submit the same to the Centre, he said: “The rehabilitation of any kind has also not been done anywhere. People have opted for financial assistance from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund which was issued to many in many states but in Meghalaya, rarely any family benefited from it.”
Pointing out that the Disaster Management Department could not provide them with vital information, he said, “The flood has revealed that the Text Agreement was also violated when we found that the wooden bridges which were supposed to be replaced by RCC bridges got washed away causing inconvenience to the public.”
He said the substandard PMGSY roads and bridges also gave away in many villages. He sought action from the CM as they are still under maintenance period.
Marak said that most of the affected families do not have BPL cards and have not received relief for their losses as they lived in kutcha houses and not the PMAY houses.
Stating that the Disaster Management Department and the blocks did not seem to have proper records of the relief since COVID times, he said: “The fact is that the relief fund was coming from the BJP government at the Centre, I am compelled to ask why flash flood-affected families in South Garo Hills and other districts did not receive financial assistance in the past.”
“I believe the government received a few hundred crores for relief. Poor and affected families in Garo Hills did not receive the financial assistance,” he added.
He further said, “Kindly look into these matters as it is you are duty-bound to look after the poor and affected as these people voted your party to power. Lastly, kindly stop distributing two bundles of CGI sheets to NPP supporters in Garo Hills.”