New Delhi: Even as questions are being raised about the Centre’s alleged step-motherly treatment of Kerala, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury, urged the prime minister to increase the financial assistance for the flood-torn state to Rs 2,000 crore from the Rs 500 crore he had announced earlier.
In his letter to Narendra Modi, Yechury spoke of his visit to Kerala on August 19-20 and said that the state needs “urgent measures for relief and rehabilitation of lakhs of people who have suffered this unprecedented damage caused by the recent floods”.
This is the first instance in which the communist party, which heads the state government in Kerala, officially articulated the need for more funds. Until now, the party has maintained a non-confrontational stance vis-à-vis the Centre, even as civil society groups have been complaining about inadequate relief measures taken by the Modi government.
The prime minister’s announcement of a Rs 500 crore grant a few days ago as immediate help to the state ran into a controversy, as the extent of damage was officially said to be worth more than Rs 30,000 crore.
“This is a rescue operation of an unprecedented dimension in the recent times. You have sanctioned Rs. 500 crores of central assistance, but this is grossly inadequate in the light of the extensive damage that has been caused. I would request you to increase this amount to Rs. 2000 crores and urge you to respond positively given the urgency that is warranted,” Yechury said, while apprising the prime minister of the damage.
He further said that he had visited three relief camps including the worst affected district of Alappuzha and found that people were “most agonized over the fact that their homes have been washed away and all their possessions destroyed”.
Since the first phase of rescue operations are drawing to a close, the immediate task of the state government, he believed, was to rehabilitate more than three lakh people, and that would require massive resources.
Yechury recommended to Modi, “New homes will have to be built for the lakhs of people. Under the central scheme of Pradhan Mantri Awaz Yojana, substantial funds must be released for this purpose. I would also urge the Central government to take up this matter with the United Nations agencies seeking assistance for building new homes.”
Further, the general secretary said, “In order to rebuild the communication networks it is urged that the central government agencies like the National Highway Authority and other central agencies be asked to deploy their resources and personnel. In addition, the Indian Army’s Engineering Corps and the Border Roads Organisations which have rich experience in building roads and bridges under difficult circumstances must be asked to assist the state governments efforts in this direction.”
Relief materials arrive in Kerala. Credit: PTI
He also requested the Centre to step up Central government efforts to deal with the impending health crisis in the state once the waters recede. He urged the Central government to request the Army’s Medical Corps and All India Institute of Medical Sciences to send their teams to prevent an epidemic. He also suggested the Centre could also approach the World Health Organisation to assist the teams.
Pointing to a discussion on the Goods and Services Tax Bill earlier, Yechury reminded the prime minister that he had raised concerns in parliament on “how the state government could raise resources” to meet the requirements during natural disasters.
“Though no such provisions were provided, now is the time to redeem the assurance from the government on the floor of the house and allow the state government of Kerala to take required measures by relaxing the concerned GST provisions,” the leftist leader said.
Tension between the state and Centre
Although voices from the state demanding that the floods be declared a national calamity have only grown, the Centre has not moved on that front. Further, widespread social media campaigns by right-wing groups which have said that nature is punishing a beef-eating state have only hurt sentiments in Kerala.
Meanwhile, news that the Centre is likely rejecting aid coming from foreign countries has fuelled further tensions between the Left-ruled state and the BJP-led Central government. The state’s finance minister Thomas Issac, in a press conference, thanked people for supporting Kerala and said that donations amounting to around Rs 210 crore were deposited in the chief minister’s disaster relief fund but the state would need much more than that. The developments in the last two days indicate that a shortage of funds could result in a political tussle between the state and the Centre as rehabilitation work starts.
Did RSS support the state against the Centre?
Amidst this fight, support for the state government came from an unexpected quarter. Even as Sangh parivar activists outside Kerala appear to support the social media campaign against the state, the Malayalam language mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Kesari, on Wednesday published an editorial that criticised the Central government for its apathy shown to the state during its worst crisis. The editorial said, “If we do not openly say that the organisation (BJP) that we trusted immensely and for so long has shown utter neglect towards the state, we would only be deceiving ourselves.” It also praised chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan while criticising the Central government.
However, soon after its publication, the editorial was withdrawn without any explanation. But the BJP’s Malayalam mouthpiece, Janmabhoomi, clarified later that Kesari’s website was hacked and the editorial was apparently a prank played by someone.
Although the Sangh parivar in Kerala has been involved in rescue and rehabilitation efforts, it has been facing flak for the hate campaign against the state and the BJP falsely declaring that nine of its activists had died during the rescue operations. Investigations revealed that none of the nine the saffron party was claiming as its members were affiliated to it.