In an act of unparalleled cruelty, Union Minister for State for Home Affairs, Nityananda Rai informed K V Thomas, Special Representative for Kerala in New Delhi, that Kerala does not need additional funds and that sufficient funds were available in the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for the relief operations!

The Union Government, he claimed, had allotted Rs 388 crore, which included the Central share of Rs 291. 2 crore and the State share of Rs 96.8 crore, for the 2024-25 fiscal in the SDRF.

The letter to Thomas said that the first instalment of Rs 145.6 crore of Central share was released on July 31 and the second instalment of Rs 145.6 crore on October 1, well in advance!

The Minister also rejected the State’s demand for declaring the 2024 disaster a national disaster. His reasoning: there is no provision to declare any calamity as a national disaster under the existing guidelines of the SDRF/NDRF! What cheek. What impudence.

He also claimed that the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Governments concerned. The Union Government, he added, would provide the requisite logistics and financial support to their efforts.

Another claim of the Minister: that the Prime Minister had undertaken an aerial survey in the landslide-affected areas and discussed the response and relief activities with the Ministers and senior officials of the Kerala Government. The Prime Minister had also assured the Kerala Chief Minister of funds for relief operations. Money would not be a problem or a constraint. These were Modi’s words. But the assurances have remained mere words.

The double standard of the Union Government in the matter of sanctioning relief is clear from the way it responded to calls for help from a few other States like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tripura. In the case of Andhra, which was battered by floods, the Union Government sanctioned a relief of Rs 1306 crore on October 5. The lightning speed with which the Centre responded to Andhra’s call is in glaring contrast to the shocking refusal to respond to Kerala’s SOS.

Incidentally, the death toll in Andhra was only 35 while that in Wayanad, Kerala was 406. The Centre sanctioned Rs 416 crore to Telangana, Rs 20 crore to Tripura and Rs 600 crore to Gujarat. All these states have SDRF too. But the Union Government has not denied assistance to them on the ground that their SDRF has sufficient funds! If this denial of addition funds to Kerala is not bias against the State, what is?

The Union Government’s act of hostility is being attributed also to the refusal of the Opposition parties in Kerala to support the LDF Government’s demand for financial assistance. That was bad enough. What is worse is their stand that the Kerala Government’s demand for assistance is based on highly exaggerated estimates! If only the Opposition parties had taken a united stand and stood in solidarity with the Kerala Government, the Union Government would not have taken the incredibly cruel stand it has taken in the highly sensitive matter. As for the attitude of the Union Minister from the State Suresh Gopi, the less said the better. His standard answer to any question on the issue is: “Ask the Chief Minister!”

Now that the Union Government has said a firm ‘No’ to Kerala’s plea for assistance, the only option before the State is to move the Supreme Court. The SC is Kerala’s only hope. Remember, when Kerala approached the apex court on an earlier occasion, it succeeded in securing a favourable order which forced a shame-faced Union Government to release financial assistance it had deliberately withheld. Well, it is time to take the legal route once again without losing much time. (IPA Service)