Cyclone Michaung flood relief assistance of ₹6,000 each has been disbursed in cash to 23.18 lakh family card holders out of 24.25 lakh eligible beneficiaries in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, the State government has informed the Madras High Court.
In a status report filed before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, Revenue and Disaster Management Secretary V. Rajaraman said the cash relief had been disbursed to 94.97% beneficiaries as on January 4, 2023.
Filing the report in response to two public interest litigation petitions, which insisted on payment of the relief amount through bank transfer and not in cash, the Secretary said, all steps were taken to ensure incident free and smooth disbursal of the cash relief through ration shops.
Explaining why the government decided to disburse the relief in cash, the officer contended, many poor people had lost their ATM cards and bank account details due to extremely heavy rainfall, brought by Cyclone Michaung, in the four districts on December 3 and 4, 2023.
The continuous rainfall had led to flooding and inundation of many localities. Nevertheless, due to the advanced preparedness of the State government, loss of life, cattle and property was minimised. Thereafter, on December 9, 2023, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced relief of ₹6,000 per family.
A Government Order was issued on December 15, 2023 releasing ₹1,455 crore for providing the cash relief to 24.25 lakh families who were found eligible for the assistance even without making an application. Another ₹31.73 crore was sanctioned for those who had to apply seeking the assistance.
Accordingly, 13.72 lakh families in Chennai, 3.12 lakh families in Chengalpattu, 6.08 lakh families in Tiruvallur and 1.31 lakh families in Kancheepuram were identified to be eligible for the cash relief even without submitting any application. They were issued with tokens at doorsteps for receiving the money from ration shops.
The tokens were issued by mentioning the date and time when they could collect the money. The Chief Minister inaugurated the distribution on December 17, 2023 and the relief amount was disbursed after biometric authentication (fingerprints) using Point of Sale machines, the Secretary said.
Though the government expected that only around 5.28 lakh families might apply for the relief under the second category, it ended up receiving 7.03 lakh applications. These claims were being processed through a mobile app and the relief to the beneficiaries would be deposited in bank accounts after verification, he added.
Listing out the announcements made by the Chief Minister for enhancing the compensation for loss of crops, cattle, fishing boats and implements, the officer urged the High Court to dismiss the two PIL petitions. Taking the status report on file, the judges directed the petitioners to reply to it by February 2.
