Saturday, January 8 2005 21:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Blair: Announcing an immediate grant of Rs 200 crore for tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar islands, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Jan 8, 2005) said there was no resource constraint as India is best equipped to handle the relief and rehabilitation operations in the country.

After making a whirlwind tour of the tsunami affected areas in the island territory, the Prime Minister said that the immediate task was to provide relief and work for the rehabilitation of the homeless people.

Ruling out any international assistance in this regard, he said, "I think we are best equipped to handle relief and rehabilitation operations. If there is need to talk to the international and financial institutions, we can do that."

To a specific question if India would seek help of the international agencies like OXFAM and other NGOs, Singh told reporters in Port Blair that in case of long-term rehabilitation and if there was areas where need was felt for help "we will take assistance. Our efforts are to identify the priority areas and then proceed systematically."

The Prime Minister said the Government would provide additional funds for various employment programmes, adequate grants for tribals, health programmes and infrastructure building.

Singh also said that a team of scientific experts would be constituted to look into the tsunami and related phenomenon so as to create an effective strategy to protect the country against future disaster of this magnitude.