 bill no 45 of 2010 the  victims  of  natural  calamities  (rehabilitation and  financial  assistance)  bill, 2010 by shri nsv chitthan, mp a billto provide for the rehabilitation and financial assistance to the victims of natural calamities and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the victims of natural calamities (rehabilitation and financial assistance) bill, 2010short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "commissioner" means the commissioner appointed under section 3; (b) "natural calamity" includes drought, flood, cyclone, hailstorm, tsunami, landslide and earthquake;(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and (d) "victim of natural calamity" means a person who suffers physical bodily harm or whose property, including livestock, crop, orchard, field, machine or tools, is lost, destroyed or damaged due to natural calamity and includes, in the case of death of such person due to natural calamity, his family members53 (1) the central government shall appoint a commissioner in such manner as may be prescribed for providing financial assistance and other benefits to the victims of natural calamities and shall be known as commissioner for the purposes of this act10appointment of commissioner for providing financial assistance and other benefits to victims of natural calamity(2) the commissioner appointed under sub-section (1) shall be provided with such staff as may be necessary for assisting him in the efficient discharge of his duties under this act(3) it shall be the duty of the commissioner to ensure provision of food, adequate shelter and financial assistance to the victims of natural calamity in such manner as may be prescribed15(4) the financial assistance to the victims of natural calamity shall be disbursed as early as possible but not later than three months from the occurrence of the natural calamity4 (1) a claim for receiving financial assistance shall be made in the prescribed form by the victims of natural calamity to the commissioner, who shall disburse the financial assistance to the victims, after making such inquiry and in such manner, as may be prescribed20financial assistance and other benefits to the victims of natural calamity(2) the victim of natural calamity shall be provided with the following financial assistance and other benefits:—(a) in case of loss of life,—(i) financial assistance in the form of a compensation of not less than five lakh rupees shall be given to the next of the kin of the deceased; and25(ii) suitable employment shall be provided to one of the dependants of the deceased;(b) in case of severe injury,—(i) medical treatment free of cost; and30(ii) such financial assistance as, in the opinion of the commissioner, is necessary for his rehabilitation, subject to the limit of a minimum amount of rupees fifty thousand and maximum amount of rupees two lakh;(c) in case of damage to the dwelling unit, he shall be provided with such financial assistance as is required for the repair or reconstruction of the damaged dwelling unit;35(d) in case of irreparable damage to the cultivable land, he shall be providedwith cultivable land of equal area at a reasonable distance from the place of his residence;(e)) in case of damage to the standing crops, he shall be given compensation inproportion to the losses suffered by him; and40(f) in case of loss of livestock, he shall be given adequate financial assistance inproportion to the losses suffered by himsavings5 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in force45power to remove difficulties6 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may, by general or special order published in the official gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years from the date of the commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each house of parliamentpower to make rules57 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act10(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsour country is prone to various natural calamities such as tsunami, floods, droughts storms, hailstorms, cyclones, landslides and earthquakes, which cause extensive damage to life and property floods are frequently occurring in the states of assam, bihar, uttar pradesh, madhya pradesh, west bengal, tripura and other parts of the country droughts are also very common and frequent throughout the country tsunami and cyclones cause havoc in the coastal areas whereas storms and hailstorms cause heavy loss of life and property in hilly areas as well as in the nearby plain areas now frequent earthquakes have also been causing concern among the people of various regions the havoc caused by the tsunami in the year 2004 in southern states of the country is still in our memory we have also not forgotten the extensive damage caused by earthquakes in the states of uttar pradesh, maharashtra and gujarat in the year 1991, 1993 and 2001, respectively whenever a natural calamity happens, the nation has to divest its resources towards rescue and rehabilitation processes and on repairs and construction of the roads, bridges, fields, buildings etc which put a heavy burden on the exchequer fortunately, the entire nation rises to face such calamities but the loss caused thereby can never be recovered by any menasof course, the occurrence of natural calamities cannot be stopped but certainly with our combined efforts we can minimise the miseries of the victims of such natural calamities by providing them with timely financial relief and extending the rehabilitation programmes to them the central government has to play the main role in this process, as the state governments are not well equipped to deal with any natural calamities and to provide relief to the victims sometimes, delay is caused in rushing relief to the victims due to procedural wrangles hence, it is felt that a suitable legislation be enacted to set up a mechanism to help the victims of natural calamities instantly the bill seeks to provide for rehabilitation and financial assistance to the victims of natural calamities instantly in case of occurrence of any such calamity in the country hence this billnew delhi;nsv  chitthanfebruary 10, 2010 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the appointment of a commissioner for providing financial assistance and rehabilitation measures to the victims of natural calamities clause 4 provides for financial assistance of rupees five lakhs to the next of kin of a person who dies in any natural calamity and medical treatment for injured persons and other welfare measures for the victims of natural calamities the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india at this stage, it is not possible to give an exact estimate of the actual expenditure to be involved to meet any unpredictable eventuality however, it is estimated that an expenditure of rupees five thousand crore per annum would be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding   delegated  legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the rehabilitation and financial assistance to the victims of natural calamities and for matters connected therewith————(shri nsv chitthan, mp)gmgipmrnd—1371ls(s5)—09042010