A flood-affected villager moves with cattle in East Midnapore. File picture

Calcutta, June 26: Political allegiance should not come between relief and the flood victims in the two Midnapores, the governor has told two ministers.

The Trinamul Congress and the BJP had complained about “shoddy” relief work in East and West Midnapore, prompting Gopal Krishna Gandhi to call disaster management minister Mortaza Hossain and civil defence minister Srikumar Mukherjee to Raj Bhavan for a briefing today.

The Trinamul Congress won the East Midnapore panchayat polls recently.

“The governor told us to ensure supply of relief to everybody, irrespective of their political allegiance. We told him there has been no partisan approach on the government’s part and our chief minister had instructed us on similar lines on the first day,” Hossain said at Writers’ Buildings after returning from Raj Bhavan.

Asked if the governor referred to Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee’s allegation of “shoddy” relief work, Hossain only said: “The governor expressed satisfaction about the government’s relief work and the way we have been tackling the flood situation.”

Earlier in the morning, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee briefed the cabinet on the flood situation.

A minister wanted to know if the compensation amount for partially and fully damaged houses could be raised. The chief minister assured him that a decision on the matter would be communicated after a quick assessment of the situation.

At present, Rs 2,000 is given for partially damaged houses and Rs 4,000 for fully damaged ones.

Bhattacharjee later met finance minister Asim Dasgupta, Hossain, chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb and other top officials separately.

“The overall flood situation has improved. The rainfall is minimal now. The water level is dipping steadily,” Dasgupta said after the meeting.