The Hindu Business Line : US Indians keen to pitch in for tsunami-affected

ASSOCIATIONS of Indian nationals in the US have told the Tamil Nadu Government that they are prepared to adopt a village in some of the areas affected by tsunami. The associations have asked the Government to allot land for this purpose.

Initially, the associations plan to construct at least 75 houses in the village and then provide boats and nets to the fishermen in this village for them to begin fishing once again.

Mr Rajinder Bedi, who is with the office of the Governor of the State of Illinois and who is a past president of the Federation of Indian Associations, Illinois, met State Government officials here on Tuesday and requested them for land for developing a model village.

He told Business Line that the federation was keen to evolve medium and long-term relief measures for those affected by the tsunami. Rather than jump in with relief measures, Indians in the US would prefer to study the ground situation to understand what exactly is needed before committing themselves to any relief work, according to Mr Bedi. They were keen to ensure that there was better distribution of relief material.

He had seen the devastation of coastal villages in and around Chennai. Some ways in which the affected people could be helped included constructing schools and providing equipment to hospitals, he said.

Mr Bedi, who is Director of Emerging Markets, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said the objective of the relief and rehabilitation measures would be to ensure that those affected went back to work as quickly as possible. For that to happen, it had to be seen whether their boats can be fixed or whether they need to be supplied with new ones. The fishermen would also need nets.

The federation's objective, he said, would be to find donors who could help in providing boats and nets so that the fishermen were able to live a normal life.

He was also keen to ensure that fishermen in the affected areas adopted more technologically advanced methods of fishing.

Mr Bedi said sponsor companies could be identified to help the fishermen adopt more advanced fishing methods. The idea should be to create a model village in which the latest technology was adopted by roping in fishermen who were open to such ideas.

He said the federation would like to work with companies such as Larsen & Toubro and industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industry to identify local needs and ensure that relief measures reached only the affected people.

Apart from providing medium and long-term relief, counselling also needed to be provided, especially to children who had been orphaned, to help them overcome their emotional trauma.

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