Excelsior Correspondent
ANANTNAG, Oct 16: Accusing the Government of restricting its flood relief measures to making elusive announcements and dishing out vague policies, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today called for substantive action on providing shelters to the homeless, ensuring food security, reviving livelihood and restoring economy.
Interacting with flood-affected shopkeepers, traders and businessmen here, Sayeed said instead of reaching out to the flood-affected people with substantive relief and rehabilitation measures, the State Government’s half-baked policies have created massive confusion among the sufferers.
Sayeed said although there can be no compensation for the actual losses suffered by the people the Government should put into place an Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods (ESFL) programme to kick-start livelihood regeneration.
“In order to help people pick up threads of life again, the Government while facilitating immediate settlement of insurance claims, must provide special grants to the uninsured businesses to enable revival of economic activity,” he said.
Sayeed said the financial package could include a new credit line with special interest rates, tax incentives, debt moratorium and investment privileges for the businesses affected by the floods.
He said, besides providing assistance in cash to the affected families, the Government should create a material bank of bricks, wood, steel, cement, sand etc and provide the same on subsidized rates to the people whose houses and commercial establishments have been damaged by floods.
Speaking on the occasion, senior PDP leader Dr Haseeb Drabu, who is the party’s candidate for Rajpora Assembly segment, said, if it comes to power, PDP’s focus would be on infrastructure building in agriculture, horticulture, tourism and handicraft sectors to give a fillip to the State’s economy and create more job opportunities for the local youth by fully harnessing their enterprising skills.
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