Aid distribution to flood-hit victims begins

Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Tuesday took Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu to task for labelling his rule as ‘devil’s rule’ and stated that the process of disbursing aid to residents of flood-hit villages has begun in right earnest.

Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Chief Minister K Rosaiah stated that the state government has decided about giving inputs Rs 4000 for partially damaged houses and Rs 5000 for fully damaged houses.

Mr Rosaiah said that the government was determined to go to the rescue of the flood-affected people in the coastal districts, which received heavy rains under the influence of the storm.

Besides, the government was also helping the flood-affected people by giving an aid of Rs 1500 for clothes and Rs 1500 for purchase of utensils.

Reeling out information such as this aid to the flood-affected people, the Chief Minister pointed out that the help for the flood hit victims during the rule of TDP was minimal.

Mr Rosaiah’s statements are seen to be a rejoinder to the alleged comments of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu that the current government was doing nothing for the poor in the flood-hit villages.

Mr Naidu had allegedly compared Mr Rosaiah’s rule as 'rakshsa palana' (devil's rule) and that the Chief Minister had 'amassed' wealth. In countering the TDP chief, Mr Rosaiah threw a gauntlet at the former chief minister.

Mr Rosaiah challenged Mr Chandrababu Naidu to declare his assets and spell out if he was ready to face a judicial enquiry into his assets by this evening. "If he is ready for that, I am ready to order a judicial enquiry into the 'assets',” the Chief Minister said.

Stating that Ratan Tata was enamoured of the state after visiting it for setting up his business, the Chief Minister observed that this was a good signal that AP was heading towards development and growth.

"When Mr Ratan Tata last came here the roads were narrow and there was no proper infrastructure. Now it was different," Mr Rosaiah stated. He added, “this spoke of the development and the pace of growth that was taking place in AP.”

The Chief Minister had also written a letter to Ratan Tata to invest in AP and set up units in the electronics and related areas here as the technical graduates were fleeing to other places as they were not finding suitable jobs for them here.

The Chief Minister said that he had invited Tata to consider future expansion in AP or set up projects in steel, leather and other sectors in AP and the government was ready to allot land and provide other facilities to his units.