Amid the ongoing human catastrophe of the Kerala floods, the peculiar debate going on in our country about whether we should accept foreign aid, strikes a particularly jarring note.

When the initial period of flooding started in Kerala in mid- July, the state government requested the Centre to provide at least Rs 831.10 crores for flood relief, but the Centre only sanctioned Rs 80 crores. On 30 July 2018, in the Lok Sabha, I urged the Centre to provide additional funds; however this was not acceded to.

Revisiting Our Disaster Management Act

When the flood situation worsened by mid-August, the state government requested Rs 1,220 crores from the National Disaster Response Fund for immediate relief assistance. On 13 August, the Centre allotted only Rs 100 crores for this purpose, even though the State Finance Minister publicly stated that Kerala needed Rs 3,000 crores for immediate relief work.

On 18 August, the Prime Minister visited Kerala and announced an additional assistance of Rs 500 crores, less than half of what the state government requested as immediate assistance (not even counting foreseeable long-term reconstruction needs).

The UAE offered assistance to the tune of Rs 700 crores, and Mr Modi, on Twitter, thanked Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of UAE, but his government let it be known to the media, that the UAE grant would be rejected (though the Central Government has not issued a formal statement). BJP spokesmen have explained that the Modi government’s stance comes from an earlier policy decision of the UPA government, to not accept foreign aid for tsunami relief.

Section 11 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has mandated the formulation of a Nation Plan as a policy framework to govern disaster management in India. Paragraph 9.2 of the National Disaster Management Plan, 2016 clearly states, “As a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster. However, if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the central government may accept the offer.”

Since the offer from UAE was not based on a request from the Government of India, it is an unsolicited goodwill gesture, and therefore, it is entirely permissible for the Centre to accept the amount as per its own policy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar on 19 August, offered to provide USD 5 million for the people of Kerala. Maldives offered Rs 35 lakh as assistance. These offers are likely to meet the same fate.