PM announces Rs.300 crore relief for Assam victims

Guwahati, July 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday announced Rs.300 crore assistance for relief and rehabilitation measures for the violence-affected areas of Assam.

Addressing a press conference at the Circuit House in Kokrajhar after visiting two relief camps located near the town, the prime minister announced a special central assistance of Rs.100 crore as immediate relief and another Rs.100 crore under special plan assistance for development of the violence-affected areas.

Manmohan Singh also assured another additional amount of Rs.100 crore under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) scheme to the affected people.

He also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the kin of those people who had lost their lives in the violence. The injured persons will also be paid Rs.50,000 to Rs.30,000 depending on the nature of their injury.

The week-long communal violence in the Bodo areas of the state has till now claimed the lives of 45 people and a estimated 2.5 lakh people have been rendered homeless.