On a day Kerala leaders vent their ire against the Union Government’s UPA-era policy to reject foreign aids for disaster relief, the Centre on Wednesday said it is open to accept foreign assistance for the Kerala deluge, subject to various norms and procedures. However, sources say no country has so far offered aid for Kerala formally.
Earlier, the Centre’s reported reluctance to accept the assistance offered by foreign countries like the UAE, Qatar, Maldives and Thailand for relief and rehabilitation efforts in deluge-hit Kerala made State leaders restless.
Though nobody from the Kerala Government used harsh words in their criticism against the Centre for its policy of not accepting foreign aid for disaster relief, leaders like Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac unequivocally said that such external help was necessary for the State in the present context.
Pinarayi, earlier on Wednesday, said that Kerala would approach the Prime Minister if there were policy hurdles in accepting disaster relief assistance from foreign countries, including the UAE. Stating that the State was presently trying to solve the problem through the official channels, he said there was no problem in accepting external aid under the existing law.
Earlier, Thailand’s Ambassador to India Chutintorn Sam Gongsakdi said India had refused to accept overseas donations for Kerala.
“Informally informed with regret that the Government of India is not accepting overseas donations for Kerala flood relief. Our hearts are with you, the people of Bharat,” Chutintorn tweeted.
The controversy arose following the reported explanation by the Centre on Tuesday that it is not intending to change the policy of not taking bilateral assistance for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in disaster times in the wake of a reported offer from the UAE Government of $100 million (Rs 700 crore) in aid for Kerala to overcome the crisis brought about by the deluge.
The Kerala leaders are questioning the logic behind the Centre’s position by pointing out that it did not seem to be able to foot the bill for the reconstruction of post-deluge Kerala, for which several billions of rupees are needed, especially in the context that it had only released Rs 600 core when Kerala’s request for immediate assistance was Rs 2,000 crore.
While the Chief Minister limited his unhappiness over the Centre’s stand to “UAE cannot be considered as just another nation as Keralites have made immense contribution to its nation-building”, Isaac termed New Delhi’s policy position as “unfortunate” and said that it was based on nothing but “false prestige”.
Pinarayi told the media that the UAE had proposed the offer on its own and that it could not be seen as “any other nation”. Pinarayi had on Tuesday said that Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan had made the $100-million assistance offer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself but there has been no confirmation for this.
Former Defence Minister and senior Congress Working Committee member AK Antony was of the opinion that turning down the $100-million aid offer made by the UAE authorities might even lead to cracks in the relations between India and that country. Many other State leaders also criticised the Centre’s reluctance to accept the UAE assistance for Kerala.
The State of Qatar’s offer of assistance to flood-hit Kerala was to the tune of Rs 42 crore while Maldives had promised to donate $50,000 for the State’s relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. According to sources in the LDF Government, they were expecting certain other countries in the Arabian Gulf too were ready to help the State.