New Delhi, December 28
The Centre today decided to extend loans on liberal terms to people, including fishermen, in the states and union territories hit by tsunami waves and asked insurance companies to quickly settle their claims for boats and other equipment.
The Government also decided to give an assistance of Rs 100 crore to Sri Lanka and Rs 5 crore to Maldives, the neighbouring countries affected by tsunami, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Shivraj Patil told newspersons here late this evening after a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to supervise the relief and rehabilitation operation.
The two Central Ministers, who had toured the tsunami-hit areas, briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other members of the GoM about the ground situation there.
About 200 tonnes of relief material had been despatched to tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar islands, Mr Mukherjee said adding the relief material included food, medicine and tents and instructions had been issued to local administration in the affected states to speedily dispose of bodies to prevent outbreak of epidemics.
The Defence Minister said the disposal of the bodies would be carried out with the help of armed forces, central and para-military forces, state police and voluntary organisations.
The Prime Minister constituted the GoM last night. It includes Ministers of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Home, Rural Development, Health and Family Welfare, Communications and IT and Social Welfare.
Meanwhile, the Centre has decided to issue temporary visas for foreign travellers stranded in the Tsunami-affected nations to transit through India.
“Home Minister Shivraj Patil has intimated to us that temporary visa issuance for passengers who are stranded without visa to enter India en route to other countries,” Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury told newspersons after a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and representatives of travel and tourism industry here.
She said the government had received reports that there were groups of people who were stranded at Tsunami-hit areas like Bangkok, Phuket, Langkawi (all in Thailand), Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, en route to other countries.
“We are extending our helping hand to bring in those people to stay in India till such time that they need” to travel to their destinations, the Tourism Minister said.
Ms Chowdhury and Patel asserted that India was a safe destination for tourism and business travellers saying “major part of India is very safe. Only the eastern coast of South India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are affected”.
