Naveen Patnaik urges Arun Jaitley to sanction Rs 399 crore Phailin dues

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to ensure release of Rs 399 crore due to the state on account of cyclone Phailin without further delay.

"May I request you to see that the error is rectified and the promised amount of Rs 399.83 crore is sanctioned from the NDRF at the earliest ?," Patnaik said in his letter to Jaitley.

Claiming that Odisha government had done "excellent work" both before the cyclone in 2013 and afterwards for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people, Patnaik said "Unfortunately, because of an erroneous assessment by the inter-ministerial central team, our legitimate dues were not sanctioned from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in the high level committee meeting chaired by the then Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar."

"The state government pointed out the error and I was pleased to receive the letter dated 10.09.2014 from the Ministry of Home Affairs informing me that the expenditure of Rs 399.83 crore was approved," Patnaik said in the letter.

However, this was subsequently not given, the chief minister said and added that he had pointed it out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 15, 2015 and also on March 4, 2015.

"However, the formal decision of the high level committee in this regard could not be taken despite its meetings held on 14.01.2015, 24.03.2015 and on 29.05.2015," Patnaik said and urged Jaitley to look into the matter.