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Indian Prime Minister Asks People to Help Tremor Victims
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on January 28 appealed to the people to contribute to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to meet the shortage of funds for the victims in the west state of Gujarat which was hit by the "worst earthquake independent India has seen".
The Indian leader told the press here that the central government would release funds from the existing schemes but these would be inadequate.
"You can help to meet the shortage by contributing money, no matter how small the amount, to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund," Vajpayee said.
It was learnt that the entire staff of the Prime Minister's Office has contributed one day's salary to the National Relief Fund.
Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that a series of after-shocks racked parts of Gujarat today, which caused panic among the already stricken people two days after the worst earthquake in 50 years that have claimed up to 20,000 lives with another 50,000 injured and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless.
The agency quoted Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel as saying that the death toll in his state could be between 15,000 and 20,000 and it was difficult to give exact figures of the extent of loss of lives and damage to property.
Patel was in constant touch with Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani on the rescue and relief operations undertaken in the tremor-stricken areas of the state.
Official sources said that Patel was personally overseeing and monitoring the measures taken by the state administration for relief and rescue operations in the quake affected areas of Kutch region, Ahmedabad city and other parts of the state.
While 15,000 people might have died in Bhuj alone, about 1,100 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, in the neighboring town of Anjar, all the 400 children caught in the rubble of collapsed buildings in a narrow lane were presumed dead, the chief minister said earlier today.
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