Assam Floods: Months Elapsed, Flood-affected Victims yet to get Compensation

The reason behind such a delay in releasing the funds is not dearth of money. The reason is bureaucratic red tapism.

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Why doesn’t the government release funds meant for flood-affected people on time as per the relief manual? Such a lapse on the part of Dispur is the mother of all problems which flood-hit people in the State have to grapple with.

Not releasing funds for flood relief on time has been a chronic problem in Assam. Take the case of the money meant for buying cloths and utensils by inmates of flood relief camps in the State. Following the relief manual, the State government made it clear this year that each and every family taking shelter in relief camps would get Rs 3,800 for buying cloths and utensils while leaving their camps. The reality check shows that around 90 per cent of the families who had to languish in relief camps during the last floods are yet to get the promised amount.

There is more to this than meets the eye. Around 80 per cent of the flood-affected people whose houses were damaged during the floods this year are yet to get compensation.

The reason behind such an absurd state of affairs in releasing funds is glaring. Instead of devising a streamlined mechanism that can ensure instant and scrupulous release of funds for flood-affected people, Dispur has been making do with its age-old system which is susceptible to red tape. According to official sources, the file for the release of Rs 40 crore for making payment of Rs 3,800 to each of the flood-hit families who had to stay in relief camps has been lying in the State Finance department.

The reason behind such a delay in releasing the funds is not dearth of money. The reason is bureaucratic red tapism.

According to the procedure followed, a state-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary has to approve the list of beneficiaries for flood relief. What makes people raise their eyebrow is – the State-level committee has not met as yet for approving the list of beneficiaries and the amount of the funds sought.

This is just an instance that shows how the laidback attitude in the State exactly looks like. Around 1.5 lakh hectares of farmlands were damaged in the State by floods this year. Believe it or not, the damage has not been assessed as yet in many districts, let alone paying compensation to the affected farmers. According to the standing rules, such damage of houses and farmlands should be verified on the spot by the latmandals, who send the lists of beneficiaries to their respective deputy commissioners. The deputy commissioners should send the lists to the secretary of the departments concerned, who should send the lists to the Revenue Department. It’s the Revenue department that has to compile all such lists received from various departments and then send them to the Finance department for the release of funds. If such lists get stuck in the Finance department, the entire effort of ‘racing against time’ goes in vain.

The politics of inclusion or exclusion of beneficiaries, according to allegations, is very intense at the field level where money changing hands cannot be ruled out. The ultimate sufferers of such discrimination and delay are the flood victims. Will Dispur put to an end to its legacy of red tapism with a streamlined system?

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