Under NDRF, Telangana got nil from Centre

Hyderabad: The BJP government at the Centre, which has consistently short-changed Telangana in devolution and allocation of funds in various areas of economic activity and development, has, by its own admission, turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the people of the State even at times of natural calamities. Given its blatant discrimination of […]

Hyderabad: The BJP government at the Centre, which has consistently short-changed Telangana in devolution and allocation of funds in various areas of economic activity and development, has, by its own admission, turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the people of the State even at times of natural calamities.

Given its blatant discrimination of Telangana, it should not come as a surprise, though shocking, that the Centre has not extended any financial support, not even to the extent of a rupee to the State under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in the past five years.

In what appeared to be a nonchalant admission, union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, reeling out figures, informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Telangana did not receive a single rupee under the NDRF in the past five years though the State passed through some serious natural calamities during the period.

The BJP government was not even moved by the heavy rains that lashed Telangana and led to unprecedented flooding of Hyderabad in 2020. In contrast, the Centre, without even any preliminary assessment, sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore to Gujarat for ‘immediate relief activities’ when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State was hit by a cyclone last year. A Central team was subsequently deputed to Gujarat for a complete assessment of the situation.

 

In the case of Hyderabad floods, a five-member high-level Central team did make a visit to the city to assess the damage, and as they say, they came, they saw, and they left. The BJP government has not released a single rupee from the NDRF to the State government though two years have since the floods and despite Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao writing to the Prime Minister seeking immediate Central assistance of Rs 1,350 crore and Rs 5,000 crore from NDRF. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao had also appealed to the Central government for sanction of funds but in vain.

According to the statistics revealed by the union Minister, neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh received over Rs 6,480.69 crore and Rs 2,584.25 crore assistance respectively under the NDRF in the last five years.

Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to a question by Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi seeking details of NDRF assistance, said the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State governments. The State governments, he said, undertake relief measures in the wake of natural disasters from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) already placed at their disposal. But this too has to be in accordance with the Central government’s approved items and norms.

Additional financial assistance is provided from the NDRF in case of a disaster of a ‘severe nature’ which is based on the assessment by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), he said. But then, this leaves ample scope for biased assessment particularly since the BJP harps on the advantages of ‘double engine’ sarkar, doesn’t it?