Caritas India, CRS, Church to spend Rs. 200 crores for tsunami rehabilitation program

Thiruvananthapuram – Dr. Soosapakiam, the Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram, has announced that Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Caritas India has jointly undertaken a massive relief and rehabilitation operation in association with the government to help the thousands of tsunami–affected survivors rebuild their lives in various parts of India.

The tsunami relief program is worth Rs. 200 crores of which Rs 25. crores will be earmarked for Kerala victims, he said.

The archbishop told media persons that the sum collected from 24 dioceses and Caritas India and CRS and associated charitable organizations will be spent on building infrastructure and comforts for the tsunami losers. But the modalities and parameters for spending the amount will be done only under the directives of the state and the central governments.

The archbishop said that discussions on the mode of relief work in the state have been held with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Auxiliary Bishop of Xyro Malankara church Joshua Mar Ignathios and the Church would take up the work as per instructions of the government.

The relief work in the state would be monitored by the Church–run Kerala Social Service Forum. A sum of Rs. 12 crore had already been spent for relief, of which Rs. 1.5 crore was spent in Kerala, he said.

The relief amount would be spent for construction and repair of houses, maintenance of camps, providing food, drinking water, primary facilities, implements and counseling. A total of 1000 new houses would be built for victims in Kerala and another 2000 damaged houses would be repaired.

Terming the tsunami the biggest disaster of the recent times, the archbishop said no effort would be too much to rebuild the lives of the losers.