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Rediff.com  » News » Floods: Paswan blames Nitish for Bihar mess

Floods: Paswan blames Nitish for Bihar mess

By Onkar Singh in New Delhi
September 02, 2008 17:56 IST
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Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan said that the Steel Authority of India has spent more than Rs 35 crore to set up relief camps in the flood-affected areas of Bihar." I am leaving for the state to ensure that relief work is carried out in proper manner. I am going to stay there for sometime," he said in response to a question from rediff.com.

He blamed the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance government of providing misleading information. "Though the water level was rising but they kept saying that the embankment was safe. They maintained this statement till August 16 and the embankment collapsed on August 18. The responsibility of repairs was of the state government. But they did not do a thing. This kind of work should be the responsibility of the Union government," he opined.

He said that it would not be proper to assess the damage caused by floods. "Our biggest problem is shortage of doctors who can treat people affected by various ailments," he said.

Talking about contradicting statements issued by Nepal Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav, Paswan said that this issue had come up during Yadav's interaction with mediapersons. "He says that Nepal does not do anything about rain water and they let the rain water run its own course. We have to tell Nepal that they could earn money by producing electricity," Paswan said.

Asked if he agreed with Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh's suggestion that government should allow MP's to donate to the relief fund, Paswan said that the government of India has already started the relief and rehabilitation work even before Rajnath Singh made this suggestion.

He also said he would ask his Dalit Sena members to force private sector to announce the number of posts fulfilled by the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates.

 

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Onkar Singh in New Delhi