Union ministers would visit Bihar on Wednesday to step up relief and rescue measures for people returning from earthquake-hit Nepal.
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan has already visited 10 districts in the state.
Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan made an extensive tour to Raxaul and other districts near the India-Nepal border.
In the next few days, Union ministers J.P. Nadda (health), Ananth Kumar (chemicals and fertilisers) and Radha Mohan Singh (agriculture) are expected to visit the state and offer doles to natural calamity-hit population of the state. "It's an election year and we have to be seen in a proactive role rather than leaving everything to the state government," said a senior BJP leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reported to have instructed Union ministers to visit Bihar and monitor relief measures.
The visit of Pradhan on Monday saw the announcement of three trains - Raxaul-Howrah, Raxaul-Hajipur and Raxaul-Delhi to take the population fleeing Nepal to their home destinations. "If needed, we will start a train from Gorakhpur," Pradhan said in Patna,while speaking to journalists, pointing out that 89 per cent of the population returning from Nepal was exiting via Raxaul.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has set up a relief camp in Raxaul, which has another camp started by the state government. Pradhan declared that the SSB would set up relief camps in five more places along the India-Nepal border. In Motihari, Pradhan assertedIndia's commitment to meet the requirement of petroleum products of Nepal in crisis. Around 70 per cent of Nepal's petroleum requirement is met by India. During his two-day visit to Raxaul, Pradhan visited relief camps run by the SSB and the state government. He also held review meetings with the officials of SSB, customs and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to get updates about the post-quake situation in Nepal. Around 20,000 victims have so far visited the relief camps from different parts of Nepal.
"I have also talked with the trade and commerce minister of Nepal, Sunil Thapa, and assured him of assistance on behalf of the Indian government till the instant natural crisis in Nepal is not permanently over, Pradhan later told reporters in Motihari.
"In a major act under maitri dharm for any nation, we have relaxed the process of money exchange for the victims coming from Nepal to India and also resolved to start more relief camps at every major entry points in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as a joint venture by the IOC and SSB," Pradhan said.
SSB director-general Banshidhar Sharma also visited the relief camp run by the SSB at Raxaul and assured to improve the condition. "We have sent nearly 40 vehicles from our battalion headquarters at Piprakothi and Sonauli in UP to provide transportation facility to the teams of NDRF working there," he said.
#The state government has resolved to send special secretary-rank officer Shridhar C. and commandant of BMP-1 Nishant Tewari as special DM and SP in the district to deal with the situation.
Both are expected to reach there by Tuesday night, said a police officer.
