Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday slammed the Centre for not providing the state with adequate financial assistance at a time when it was reeling from the century’s worst floods.
Speaking at the Rising Kerala Conclave of News 18 in Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan said, “No idea as to why Kerala was not given enough financial assistance for flood relief.”
Attacking the BJP at the Centre, the chief minister claimed that denying adequate financial aid to a disaster-hit state is a first. “I still don’t understand the rationale behind it,” he added.
“In a bid to rebuild Kerala, the UAE had promised the Prime Minister a sum of $100 million, but he refused to accept it. But, the PM had himself suggested to collect money from various other agencies before he changed his stand,” Vijayan said.
The Union government had earlier declared that it will not take any financial assistance from foreign governments going by an existing policy on foreign aid.
According to the CM, the Crown Prince of UAE had discussed an aid of Rs 700 crore with the Centre. Although, contrary to what the CM had claimed, the Gulf nation had clarified that they had made no such specific announcements.
“We expected to get ample favour from the central government despite not receiving the foreign aid, but we were disappointed,” said Vijayan.
The CM further pointed out that Kerala would not have been the first state to have accepted foreign assistance as it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself who had accepted foreign aid during his stint as the chief minister of Gujarat.
The Centre had maintained that it will not accept any financial help from other countries, much to the disappointment of its people, even as several countries like UAE, Maldives and Qatar have come forward with huge sums as aid to Kerala to help the south Indian state recover from the wide-scale devastation caused by floods,
Citing chapter 9 of NDMP, the Centre had said as a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster. However, if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the Central Government may accept the offer.”
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