'No discrimination in quake relief'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. The first meeting of the National Committee on Disaster Management, presided over by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said all help would be provided to the earthquake victims in Gujarat irrespective of their religion, caste or political affiliations.

Referring to the allegations of the Leader of the Opposition and Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, on discrimination in providing relief to earthquake victims, the Prime Minister and Mr. Keshubhai Patel, Chief Minister, denied there was any such discrimination. However, the Committee said a strict vigil would be maintained in this regard and assistance would be provided to the needy without any discrimination.

The Committee also agreed to a suggestion made by the Prime Minister on setting up a working group of professionals and experts to prepare a long-term plan on tackling natural calamities or man-made disasters in future.

Problems such as red tapism, slow response of the State Government in the initial stages, and relief material still lying undistributed also came up for discussion during the three- hour meeting.

Both Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Patel assured the Committee that the government machinery was working properly in distributing relief and conducting rehabilitation measures. The government machinery would be further streamlined and improved, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, said while briefing reporters tonight on the meeting.

The decision to set up the National Committee on Disaster Management was taken at an all-party meeting on February 3. It would suggest short-term, medium-term and long-term strategies for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in the quake-hit areas. It would also deliberate on necessary institutional and legislative steps needed for an effective and long-term strategy to deal with major natural calamities in future. The parameters defining a national calamity would also be looked into.

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