By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 28, 2015 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Centre for early disbursement of nearly Rs 400 crore towards Phailin claims for restoration and rehabilitation of the affected persons.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sought rectification of the error in the assessment and release of the promised amount of Rs 399.83 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at the earliest.

Patnaik in his letter claimed that Odisha Government had done excellent work both before the cyclone and afterward, for relief and rehabilitation of the affected persons.

“Unfortunately, because of an erroneous assessment by the Inter Ministerial Central Team, our legitimate dues were not sanctioned from the NDRF in the High Level Committee (HLC) meeting chaired by Sharad Pawar, the then Union Agriculture Minister. The state government pointed out the error and I was pleased to receive the letter on September 10 last year from the Ministry of Home Affairs informing me that the expenditure of Rs.399.83 crore was approved. However, this was subsequently not given effect to,” Patnaik’s letter to Jaitley said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had raised this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January and March this year.

“I pointed this out in my letters to the Prime Minister on January 15 and March 4 this year. However, the formal decision of the HLC in this regard could not be taken despite its three meetings held on January 14, March 24 and May 29 this year,” Patnaik added.

More than one core people in 17 districts of the state were affected by the very severe cyclonic storm and subsequent floods that hit the state on October 12, 2013.