 bill no  iv of  2007 the financial relief to the natural calamity victims bill, 2007 a billto provide for financial relief to the people for damage caused to their crops, property, livestock and/or loss of life suffered by them due to earthquake, cyclones, tsunami, floods, landslide, cloudburst and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the financial relief to the natural calamity victims act, 2007short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force with immediate effectfinancial relief for damaged crops2 every person whose crops have been damaged by cyclones, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst, landslide shall, on an application made in the prescribed form, be paid reasonable financial relief by the central government in proportion to the loss of crops suffered by himexplanation— for the purposes of this section crop means and includes all types of cereals, pulses, oil-seeds, vegetables, fruits, jute, sugarcane and cottonshelter in case of destruction of house and property3 the central government shall, in consultation with the concerned state government, provide to every family, whose house and property have been destroyed by cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst, landslide, a dwelling unit either at the same place or at any other place earmarked for rehabilitation by central or by the concerned state governmentfinancial relief for loss of livestock4 every person whose livestock has been lost due to cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst, landslide shall, on an application made in the prescribed form, be paid by the central government adequate financial relief to purchase essential livestockfinancialrelief for lossof life5 if any person dies as a result of cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst, landslide, the central government shall, on an application made in the prescribed form by the surviving dependent(s) of the deceased, pay an adequate sum of money, not less than one hundred thousand rupees to them as financial relief6 the government of the state or the union territory, in whose territorial jurisdiction the victims loses his life due to cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst or landslide, shall provide a suitable job to one of the eligible dependents of the victim as it may think fit, and determine their functions and conditions of servicesemployment provision for dependents of deceased victimsaving of other laws7 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force regulating any of the matters dealt with in this actappointment of commissioner for payment of relief8 the central government shall, in consultation with the government of the state or union territory concerned, appoint within a fortnight of the occurrence of any cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, floods, cloudburst or landslide, a commissioner with such other staff as may be necessary, for settling the claims for payment of financial relief to the victims:provided that the commissioner shall dispose of a claim within sixty days of the receipt of the application by himpower to make rules9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsvarious parts of the country are inundated by floods and devastations by other natural disasters namely, super-cyclone, earthquake, cloudburst, landslide which have been occurring in various places at regular intervals causing irreparable damage to lives and properties of the victims who are mostly caught unaware by such occurrences like the incident of tsunami occurred on 26th december, 2004lakhs of helpless poor people in the states viz, arunachal pradesh, assam, bihar, west bengal and others are badly affected by floods a very large number of people in various other states often suffer due to earthquake, cloudburst, landslide, cyclone and other natural calamities, by way of destruction of their dwelling units and other properties such calamities pose a threat their livestock and often result in loss of life for instance, coastal areas of the country particularly andhra pradesh, orissa and tamil nadu are frequently affected by cyclones causing widespread devastation of crops, properties and lives although the concerned state governments do try to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people but due to financial constraints they can seldom provide adequate relief to them traditionally, there have always remained a big gap between the demands made by the affected states and the relief given by the central governmentsince the assistance provided by the central government is the main source on which the state governments depend for providing relief to the persons affected by incidents of natural calamities, it is felt that the central government should bear the entire burden in this regard therefore, it is proposed that financial relief to the victims of natural calamities should be paid by the central government through a commissionerhence this bills s  ahluwalia financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for provision of dwelling unit in case of destruction of house and property clause 4 provides for financial relief for loss of livestock clause 5 provides for financial relief in case of death clause 6 provides for suitable job to eligible dependents of victims of natural calamities clause 8 provides for appointment of commissioner for settling the claims therefore, the bill, if enacted will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees one thousand crores will be required for the purpose from the consolidated fund of india per annum as recurring expenditure however, this may not be required if there is no such natural calamity in a particular yeara non-recurring expenditure of rupees fifty crores is also likely to be incurred memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the delegation of powers relates to routine matters only, it is of normal character rajya sabha———— a billto provide for financial relief to the people for damage caused to their crops, property, livestock and/or loss of life suffered by them due to earthquake, cyclones, tsunami, floods, landslide, cloudburst and for matters connected therewith————(shri s s ahluwalia, mp)mgipmrnd—1225rs(s-3)—16032007