Patna: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday gave Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over Rs 40 crore (Rs.400 million) for the assistance of the Kosi flood victims in the state.
Apart from Rs 386 million from the Railway Minister's Relief Fund (RMRF), Lalu Prasad, who heads the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), provided Rs 20 million on behalf of his party.
This was the second time Lalu Prasad has provided financial assistance for the flood victims in Bihar. In September last year, he had announced assistance of Rs 900 million from the RMRF.
The Railway Minister handed over the funds to the chief minister at his official chamber here.
"We promised to provide assistance soon after the flood hit Bihar, now we have fulfilled it," Lalu Prasad said.
A smiling Nitish Kumar, who described Lalu Prasad as his elder brother, thanked him for the assistance. "I am thankful to him and the railways," Kumar said.
At least three million people were rendered homeless in Purnia, Araria, Supaul, Madhepura and Saharsa districts of the state when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course August 18, 2008, flooding large tracts of land and forcing people to flee their homes.
The homeless were then forced to live along the roads under the open sky without food, clothes and drinking water or in the relief camps set up by the state government.
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