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Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday criticised the Kerala government for "dragging their feet" on the rehabilitation of July 2024 Wayanad landslide victims, and claimed that the central government provides slow funding, which led to delays in the rehabilitation.
Addressing mediapersons, Gandhi noted that Congress is proceeding with its own housing initiatives. "We've done a lot for the rehabilitation of victims here on our own, and we've done it through our party, and as you know, today also we're going to be inaugurating the housing, and I think that we've done quite a lot," he said. She alleged that the Kerala State government stalled the project by delaying land identification, while also accusing the central government of lagging in financial assistance. "There was a lot of delay in paperwork and land issues and all that, and fortunately, we have been able to resolve them. So hopefully we will build and be able to do something good soon. I would say that in identifying the land, it took a long time, also partly because of the dragging of the feet by the state government," the Congress leader claimed. "Had they been more cooperative with us at that point, we would have been able to do it earlier. Our timeline is already passed. We should have been able to do it. I am just happy that at least we've got all the clearances," she remarked. She claimed that there is a lack of funding from the Centre, which she described as the core issue in rehabilitation. "The central government funds are very slow, in some cases, also the state government, but more than that the central government is slowing down funding on a lot of schemes, and that's delaying the schemes," she added. Both Congress MPs will be participating in the laying of the foundation stone ceremony for houses to be constructed for Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster survivors by the Indian National Congress at Kunnambatta, Kalpetta, today. On July 30, 2024, Kerala was hit with one of the deadliest landslides in the state, which killed a total of 300 people and destroyed scores of houses and other buildings. On March 29, Priyanka Gandhi inaugurated and launched a scholarship distribution for higher education for the survivors of the landslide. Speaking on the occasion, Priyanka Gandhi asserted that when she visited Wayanad after the landslide, she saw the devastation, pain, and suffering the people went through. (ANI)
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