| 4th January, 2005 |
4TH NOTE |
| Dear partners & friends, |
I am sure you must have received my earlier 3 notes on the above. As per the latest data, the official death toll in the Tsunami tragedy has climbed to 9,479 with Tamil Nadu accounting for 7,814 deaths, Kerala 166, Andhra Pradesh 106, Pondicherry 575 and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 818. As many as 5,681 persons are still untraced or missing.
I have now decided to deal with the Government Welfare packages for the affected people.
Each affected family was given about Rs. 5,000/- towards construction of their houses, buying vessels, buying immediate dress and also for buying provisions. Though this is low amount, Government has done this. The Government is also in the process of releasing Rs. 1 lakh to all those families where a death is occurred.
Each orphan children will be given Rs. 4 lakhs by the State Government and addition Rs. 1 lakh by the Central Government. Each orphan children in total will get Rs. 5 lakhs, which will be deposited in Fixed Account in their name. They will be entitled to the proceeds on attaining the age of 18.
Similarly for orphan girls between the age of 14 – 18 years of age, the Government will provide the same benefit and apart from this, the Government will accommodate them in State Service Homes. They will be provided food, shelter and clothes and arrangements will be made to continue their studies.
According to the State Government note, more than 3000 people had been injured in the Tsunami effect. Those who have lost any part of the body will be given a grant of Rs. 25,000/- each and will be provided all medical amenities.
Those who are hospitalized for more than a week will be given Rs. 5,000/- each.
Those who had been widowed and destitute will be given a monthly pension of Rs. 200/-, free food and rice.
The above are some of the package schemes announced by the Government. A lot of private organizations have also come forward to take up massive relief packages. However there is no concrete idea about the rehabilitation of the affected families. Big donors are meeting jointly and also separately with their NGO partners and are trying to do something. There is also confusion at their level as to what kind of rehabilitation programme will be suitable. Meantime, the District Collectors at the local level are in touch with local NGOs. Following the appeal from District Administration, a few corporate houses, NGOs and philanthropists had come forward to adopt villages.
There is lot of confusion among the people, NGOs and donors with regard to the total development plan. Meantime, I am happy to inform you the following report :
“Around 4 p.m. on 3rd Jan., all residents of Akkaraipettai, one of the worst affected villages in Nagapattinam, were on the beach. Three boats with gleaming outboard motors were at the waterfront.
After a puja, nine fishermen pushed the three boats into the sea. Encouraged by the District Administration and the Army, the fishermen tool the first, if tentative, steps to get back to fishing.
For the District Administration, this represented a big leap in its rehabilitation efforts. The fishing community needed re-assurance, and the District Administration represented by the Taluk-in-charge, Vivek Harinarain and the Thanjavur Collector, Radhakrishnan and the Indian Army’s crack fixing team, led by Jose Manavalan and Shiva are there to provide it.”
My next mail will give you more details about various ongoing operations.
With regards,
(R. Bhakther Solomon)
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