MP Saket Gokhale demands disaster relief for Kerala, West Bengal in Union Budget 2024
New Delhi: In a recent letter, MP Saket Gokhale has called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to include provisions for disaster relief for the states of Kerala and West Bengal in the Union Budget 2024. This demand comes in the wake of devastating landslides in Wayanad, Kerala, and severe flooding in North Bengal.
Gokhale, along with fellow MP Sushmita Dev, visited the affected areas in Wayanad on Friday and Saturday. They were sent by their party leader, Mamata Banerjee, to assess the situation and show support for the victims. Gokhale described the scene as a "carnage," with hundreds of lives lost and numerous families left without homes. The Kerala administration is reportedly working diligently to manage the crisis, but the task of rebuilding over 500 destroyed homes remains a significant challenge. According to Gokhale, the media coverage does not fully capture the extent of the disaster.
In West Bengal, the flooding has similarly displaced many people who now require rehabilitation. Gokhale criticized the central government for withholding relief funds, alleging that the Modi administration is neglecting these states because they are governed by opposition parties.
He further said that Union Government revenues are derived from taxes paid by citizens across all states, including Kerala and Bengal, and should be used for the welfare of all Indians, especially in times of disaster.
Gokhale urged the Finance Minister to set aside political differences and provide the necessary flood and disaster relief in the budget, stating that it is the government's duty to assist affected citizens.
Important:
— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) August 5, 2024
I've written to Finance Minister @nsitharaman demanding that the states of Kerala & West Bengal be included in the Union Budget 2024 for providing disaster relief to people affected by the landslide in Wayanad & the floods in North Bengal.
Along with my colleague… pic.twitter.com/HIlKa4KvMb
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
