Oppn alleges 'discrimination' in awarding solatium to kin of

Opposition Leader in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala told reporters at Pettimudi in Idukki, the site of the massive landslide which has left 42 dead so far that the government should increase the compensation amount. Minister of State V Muraleedharan, who visited the place earlier in the day, told reporters that the Chief Minister should not be selective in visiting the disaster-hit areas.

The Opposition Congress and BJP in Kerala Sunday trained their guns on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the "discrimination" in awarding solatium to the victims of landslide and aircraft crash and his "failure" to visit those affected in Idukki district. Opposition Leader in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala told reporters at Pettimudi in Idukki, the site of the massive landslide which has left 42 dead so far that the government should increase the compensation amount.

Minister of State V Muraleedharan, who visited the place earlier in the day, told reporters that the Chief Minister should not be selective in visiting the disaster-hit areas. "The government should increase the compensation amount for the landslide victims. The government should provide Rs 10 lakh compensation," Chennithala said.

"This is not right. Taking two different stances for two tragedies. He cannot visit selectively. The landslide is a major incident. The Prime Minister has asked me to visit both the places. The landslide is a major natural disaster," Muraleedharan said. The Chief Minister had on Saturday said the focus of the government was to complete the rescue operations, only after which the actual loss could be ascertained.

Hence it was decided to pay an interim amount as compensation as the government had a responsibility to take care of those who lost everything, ensure their livelihood and rebuild their lives. The state government had announced Rs five lakh solatium to the families of those who killed in the landslide and Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of those who died in the plane crash.

Vijayan had also he had visited a hospital in Karipur to meet the injured as the rescue operations were over, while it was still on in Idukki. state ministers E Chandrashekaran, M M Mani and K Raju were now coordinating the rescue measures there.

42 bodies have so far been were recovered from the landslide struck area. Seventy eight people were staying in the area when the tragedy occurred.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)