KOCHI: Even as the Centre rejected the Rs 700-crore aid to Kerala saying India would not take aid from foreign governments, experts say the offer was their way of saying ‘thanks’ to the people of Kerala who have helped build the UAE, and there were “no strings attached” to the financial offer.
“We should not treat the UAE offer as an aid from a foreign country. For the past 30-40 years about 25 lakh Keralites have helped build UAE. This is their way of reciprocating the hardwork of the people of Kerala,” says S Irudaya Rajan, professor, Centre of Development Studies and an expert of migration of Keralites to West Asia.
Adds Mary George, economist and former chairperson of Kerala Public Expenditure Review Committee: “There are no strings attached to the UAE offer for Rs 700 crore. We should be graceful enough to accept the offer as it is Malayalees who have built the UAE and the Gulf region through their hard work. It’s their way of saying ‘thank you’ to Kerala, and they genuinely want to help us to build our state just like we helped them build their country.”
In fact, the reason for the offer was very much explained by UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when he tweeted: “The people of Kerala have always been and are still part of our success story.”Says Irudaya Rajan: “We should not treat the UAE offer from a political or policy perspective. We should see the offer as their help to their brothers in Kerala in their hour of need.” UAE and Saudi Arabia has the largest number of expat population from Kerala, he points out.
Mary George says Kerala has a unique position in the Gulf region, and it’s the physical and intellectual help that helped build the region from 1970s. “Our labourers toiled hard to build the Gulf from mid-1960s. If the Gulf countries chose workers from the West, the cost would have been far far higher,” she says.
“I don’t think the UAE would have promised the offer if such calamity had occurred in any other state,” Mary George adds.
CPM lashes out at Centre
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state leadership has come out against the Centre’s reluctance in accepting the Rs 700-crore aid from the UAE for Kerala flood relief. Party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said it was part of the Union Government’s revengeful approach towards Kerala.