Rs. 2 b worth of relief for drought-affected families: Duminda

By Ruwandi Gamage

Disaster Management Minister Duminda Dissanayake yesterday announced a relief package worth a total of Rs. 2 billion for drought-affected agriculture families in 14 districts.

The Ministry has identified 451,224 agricultural families in the affected districts who have faced crop damages during the last three seasons. For a family of three or less, a package worth Rs. 4,000, and for families with three or more members, a package worth Rs. 5,000, will be provided. 

The pack will be provided once a month to these identified families, and the program is set to begin in the coming two weeks’ time.  The pack includes 13 dry rations, such as rice, dhal, milk powder, and also a few essential spices used in an everyday household. 

“A system has been put in place to make sure that the dry rations are of good quality and in the correct quantity, as mentioned in the list. We have increased the quantity of certain items, such as 30kg of rice as compared to 10kg earlier. The program will continue for two months, as we expect the harsh weather conditions to change after that,” Dissanayake said.

In addition to the provisions of over Rs. 73 million in the State budget to provide drinking water to more than 200,000 affected families in 19 districts, the Minister also detailed plans to provide clean drinking water. According to Dissanayake, 700 water tanks are set to be distributed among the District Secretariats of seven districts affected by these harsh weather conditions. Also, a grant of Rs. 200 million has been approved,to be used to reconstruct wells in these drought-stricken districts.

Dissanayake mentioned that this effort by the Ministry is separate to any efforts taken by any other party to aid the people affected, and that this reflects the Government’s attempt to help its people in the time of need.