Pending Phailin dues to Odisha soon: Union Home minister

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that pending arrear dues of Cyclone Phailin will be released to the Odisha government soon.

In reply to a query from BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahatab, the Union Home Minister said, “As I have said earlier, the pending dues will be released to Odisha within few days.”

During the Question Hour, the BJD MP asked; “Three casualties occurred and more than 10 lakh people were evacuated during the cyclone.

Is that the reason why Odisha will not get the support? Above all, the cyclone happened in 2013.”

Further, Mahatab stated, “As my colleague Tathagata Satpahy mentioned in anguish, is that the pocket money the Centre is giving to the State? That is why we had asked for Rs 4,000 crore as drought relief.”

Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on November 28 wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley demanding immediate release of Rs 399 crore on account of Phailin assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).