Wednesday, March 9 2005 16:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: No arrogance was meant while refusing foreign assistance to tackle tsunami disaster, as there was no dearth of funds to deal with the situation, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in Rajya Sabha today (Mar 9, 2005).

Government thanked the countries, which offered assistance for people affected by the catastrophe, Patil said and added, "If we wanted, we will accept it. There is no paucity of funds".

He said while the offer of assistance from multilateral agencies and international financial institutions will be examined, as far as the offer of bilateral assistance is concerned, "we are confident we will be able to manage it in a proper manner and we thank them for it".

In reply to the main question, Patil said that the estimated loss due to the catastrophe stood at Rs 11,544.91 crore.

While 10,273 people lost their lives, 5,823 people are reported missing in the disaster that took place on December 26, he said.

While Tamil Nadu has been provided Rs 2,349 crore to tackle the disaster, Andhra Pradesh has been allotted Rs 70 crore and Kerala Rs 249.36 crore.

The Centre was providing all assistance to Andaman and Nicobar islands, which suffered huge damage due to tsunami, he said.

The Minister said that a core group under the Planning Commission has been constituted to plan and make provisions for long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction and providing multi-hazard proof permanent houses.