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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of misleading the Parliament and the people on the Wayanad disaster.
“His statement that the state government submitted the detailed report on Wayanad disaster late is not factual. It is unfortunate that the Union government wanted to evade the responsibility of allowing financial aid by converting it into a controversy. This is not the first time Amit Shah has done this,” Pinarayi said at a press conference on Monday.
He said the state submitted a memorandum requesting a primary financial aid of Rs 1,202 crore to the Centre on August 17.
“On November 13, the state submitted a detailed report after the post-disaster needs assessment (PDNA) was done. However, the home minister had told the MPs from Kerala that it was because of the late submission of this report that a special package for Kerala could not be declared. But at the time of the prime minister’s visit, PDNA was not considered as an official document to get financial aid. This is the first PDNA after the guidelines were created," he said.
"To prepare this, at least a three-month period is needed. The state only took that time. Kerala has submitted a 583-page detailed report. States like Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh also prepared the detailed report in a three-month period after disasters,” he added.
The CM alleged that the Centre is ignoring Wayanad and the victims by not declaring the special financial aid.
“Though the Centre had declared financial aid to states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, and Bihar for flood calamities, Kerala was ignored. Kerala is one of the states in India. The aid given to other states should be made available to us too," Pinarayi said.
"If the Union government is of the view that the Wayanad landslides do not come under the category of disaster, the Centre should clarify which one is eligible for financial aid. There are no lapses on the part of the government in informing the High Court about the details of SDRF,” he added.