Priyanka urges Centre to waive loans of Wayanad flood victims, laments 'lack of support'

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday urged the Centre to waive loans for the flood and landslide victims from her parliamentary constituency of Wayanad, and lamented the "lack" of central assistance in helping the affected people rebuild their lives. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Vadra said hundreds of people lost their lives, 17 families were wiped out, and more than 1,600 buildings were destroyed in the landslides and floods in the Kerala district.

"Hundreds of acres of land were also destroyed... There are coffee plantations, tea plantations, cardamom...there were people whose entire lives were destroyed, including auto drivers, jeep drivers, people who run home stays and do small businesses," she said. She said it has been a year since the disaster, and those affected have not been rehabilitated properly. "For one year, we've been requesting the release of funds for Wayanad. Some funds were released, but they were insufficient and given as loans, which is unprecedented. People have lost their lives and entire livelihoods, and we expect them to repay loans while rebuilding their lives?" she said. It was requested that the landslides and floods be declared a national disaster, which wasn't done initially, but it was eventually designated as a "disaster of a severe nature", she said. "However, this hasn't been enough as the victims' families are still struggling one year later. It's my honest and heartfelt request on behalf of the people of Wayanad that the central government consider waiving these loans, which are a small amount for the Centre," she said.