Why Modi Govt’s Decision To Refuse Foreign Aid For Kerala Isn’t Surprising

“And secondly, accepting from any one government opens the floodgates for others as well, and it would be diplomatically hard to refuse from some while accepting from others”, an official said.

As Kerala witnessed its worst floods since 1924, 21-year-old Hanan Hamid, who was trolled for selling fish outside her college, has donated ₹1.5 lakh towards the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).

It is also noteworthy that while the government refuses foreign financial assistance, it does not bar many foreign NGOs, other groups and individuals from contributing money and offering other help to private agencies in India, provided they follow and respect the government guidelines. UAE, Maldives and Qatar extended their support to the flood-ravaged state, yet the Centre has distinctly declined the offer, disappointing both the countries and the citizens of the flooded state.

The UAE is home to around 2.8 million expatriate Indians, most of who hail from Kerala.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday said Rs 600 crore released two days ago to flood-hit Kerala was only the advance assistance and additional funds would be released when an inter-ministerial team visits the state again and assesses the damage. And it has sparked a major row between the Kerala state government and their federal counterparts.

Albanna said, “All that has happened is that UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has formed a national emergency committee”.

More than 1.3 million people have now packed into temporary camps even though the floods, which have left at least 420 dead and missing, are fast receding.

Prime Minister Singh was taking forward the NDA-I government’s broader policy on foreign aid. “And, it is also coordinating with the local authorities for immediate aid in terms of relief and food material”, he said. Lawrence has got an appointment to meet Kerala Chief Minister this Saturday. The state’s main airport at Kochi, which one city resident described to The National as resembling “an island in the middle of a river” during the floods, is scheduled to reopen only on August 29.

On the ground in Kerala, search and rescue operations have ended, but almost a million people remain in emergency camps.

It was during the first Congress-led UPA government that the rules were altered that financial assistance from foreign countries should not be accepted after natural disasters.