The Indian government has categorically stated that it won’t be accepting any foreign aid for the purpose of rebuilding Kerala that is experiencing the worst flood situation till date.
More than 300 people are not amidst us in the natural calamity while lakhs have been forced to leave their houses to save their lives. As per an estimate, property worth Rs. 20,000 crore has been destroyed in these floods and undoubtedly, it will take quite good time for Kerala and its citizens to recover from this disaster.
Recently, a controversy started in relation to the aid of Rs 700 crore offered by UAE for Kerala but the Indian government refused to accept it as it is a policy of the country to depend on the internal sources during the times of natural calamities.
However later on, UAE refused to make any such offer to the Indian government, saying that it will like to offer aid as it has formed a committee for assessing the situation and added that the amount of aid will depend on the report of the committee.
So, now the big question arises as to how this rumour got circulated.
It came directly from the Kerala government as the CM Pinarayi Vijayan made a tweet in this regard on August 21 but in a series of tweets, he also made it clear that this information has travelled to him from various sources and not directly from the UAE government.
He tweeted, “CM Pinarayi Vijayan informed that the United Arab Emirates will provide Kerala an assistance of ₹700 Crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support. #KeralaFloodRelief”
CM Pinarayi Vijayan informed that the United Arab Emirates will provide Kerala an assistance of ₹700 Crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support. #KeralaFloodRelief pic.twitter.com/yfwbt9iEkd
— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018
CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that he was informed about it by an Indian-origin businessman Yusuff Ali M.A, a Keralite who now lives in Gulf. Moreover, the CM claimed that PM Modi also had the knowledge of Rs 700 crore help offer from the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
The Indian government was slammed as it gave only Rs. 600 crore to the Kerala government for relief work while UAE was offering more that it. The finance minister of Kerala Thomas Isaac also took to Twitter to slam the Modi government and wrote,
“We asked Union Gov for financial support of ₹2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious ₹600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer ₹700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy.”
We asked Union Gov for financial support of ₹2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious ₹600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer ₹700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy.
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018
However, now as UAE has made it clear that it never talked about the amount of aid, the matter should be put to rest.
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