New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) The central government has declared the devastating Kerala floods as a "calamity of severe nature".
A statement on Monday by Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that "keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods in Kerala, the government of India has declared this a calamity of a severe nature".
Naidu and Mahajan said they had decided to donate their one month's salary for relief and rehabilitation in Kerala and appealed to all MPs to try donating one month's salary too.
Kerala has been hit hard by the worst floods in a century, leaving hundreds dead and thousands displaced and homeless.
Naidu and Mahajan also said that under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), an MP could in the event of a calamity of severe nature in any part of the country, recommend works up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore for affected districts.
