Compensate victims' families immediately, says Rahul Gandhi after review meeting in Wayanad

Kalpetta: Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi here on Sunday said families of the victims of wild animal attacks should get compensation immediately. Talking to the media after a review meeting with the district authority here, Gandhi said that he tried to contact Pinarayi Vijayan to discuss the issue this morning, but the Chief Minister was unavailable.
“I wanted to apprise him directly on what the people of Wayanad are going through,” said the MP.

During the meeting, he asked the district authority to speed up the procedures to give compensation to the bereaved families. “The administration should act aggressively to provide compensation to the families. When a breadwinner dies, poor families will be affected completely. So, the compensation should not be given after months. They should get the financial aid immediately,” he said. 

While visiting the family of Paul, a tourist guide who was killed at Kuruva Island on Friday, his daughter complained to Gandhi about Mananthavay Government Medical College Hospital which lacks proper facilities. Highlighting this issue, the Wayand MP noted that the district authority should take action to develop the hospital.

“The medical college is a critical issue. I have told the administration today that I don't understand why it is taking so long to develop and build a medical college here. It is not a complicated thing to do. It's a tragedy as even after loss of lives and several injuries, people here do not have a proper medical college. I have written to the Chief Minister and requested him again to expedite the process. It is almost becoming a joke now,” Gandhi said.

He also appealed to the government to bear the medical expenditure of the people who were injured in the latest wild animal attacks.

As coordination between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in solving wild animal attacks became a major challenge for the Kerala forest department, the Congress leader pointed out the need to build inter-state cooperation.

“There's a question of interstate cooperation between Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We mentioned to them that we will also play a role in trying to improve the coordination. But it's important that the three states coordinate with each other as far as this issue is concerned,” he said.

The Wayanad MP suggested the district authority to increase the number of Rapid Response Teams and install early warning systems to save people from wild animal attacks.