Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami announced on Sunday that all AIADMK lawmakers would donate their monthly salary for relief and rescue work to the flood-battered state of Kerala.
Responding to a reporter’s question on the personal donation of lawmakers at the Coimbatore airport on Sunday, the chief minister said, “All AIADMK Ministers, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Members of the Legislative Assembly, Members of Parliament, will donate their one month salary to relief work in Kerala.”
The CM also urged people from all walks of life to donate according to their personal capacity.
“Life and property have been damaged in Kerala. It would be good if people from all walks of life could make heartfelt donations according to the extent possible by them,” he said.
On Saturday, the chief minister announced a relief of Rs 5 crore for relief work in the state, in addition to Rs 5 crore that had already been announced on August 10.
The Tamil Nadu government also sent various relief materials to Kerala including 500 metric tonnes of rice, 300 metric tonnes of milk powder, 15,000 litres of ultra-high temperature processed milk, veshtis, lungis, 10,000 blankets and essential medicines.
The CM also announced the immediate dispatch of medical and veterinary teams to the affected state.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday announced that that next important step was rehabilitation and reconstruction of the state. Speaking to reporters, he said, “One phase of the disaster is about to come to an end now. We still have a long way to go to bring life back to normal in the state and the government has the responsibility to do it.”
In July this year, the monthly salary and allowances paid to Members of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu was increased from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000.