Centre set to clear relief aid to Sikkim, Odisha

Stung by reminders from Odisha and Sikkim, the Centre’s High Level Committee (HLC) will meet on December 15 to clear financial aid for the two states affected by natural calamities.

Stung by reminders from Odisha and Sikkim, the Centre’s High Level Committee (HLC) will meet on December 15 to clear financial aid for the two states affected by natural calamities.

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Sikkim — hit by a massive earthquake on September 18 —has sought Rs7,400 crore from the Centre under the disaster response fund. Odisha had asked for Rs3,265.38 crore after it suffered two floods in September.

The HLC, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, has agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, home minister P Chidambaram and the plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia as members.

While Sikkim is learnt to have submitted a memorandum on November 28 to the home ministry demanding relief, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to finance minister on December 2, asking the Centre to quickly dispose monetary aid.

In his letter, Patnaik said while theCentre had promptly deputed an inter-ministerial central team to assess the scale of damage, no money has come yet.