Kerala, After The Flood: Centre's aid less than the cost of one Rafale jet, one-seventh of sum spent on government's VVIP aircraft

Mumbai: In response to Kerala’s request for Rs 2,000 crore ($286 million) for the rehabilitation of those affected by recent floods, the Centre has released Rs 600 crore, 30 percent of what the state sought. That’s less than the cost of one Rafale fighter jet (Rs 670 crore), 36 of which India hopes to buy from France.

Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s Chief Minister, said on 21 August, 2018, that the state would demand a ‘special package’ of Rs 2,600 crore ($372 million) under various centrally sponsored schemes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The floods that ravaged Kerala after 8 August 2018, have left a wide trail of death and destruction, but controversy has broken out over the aid provided by the Centre.

While the toll since the onset of monsoon on 30 May has reached 373, more than 1.2 million people are in relief camps and losses are pegged at Rs 20,000 crore ($2.86 billion), 16 percent of the state’s 2018-19 expenditure, the New Indian Express reported on 18 August, 2018.

Indian Navy supplies relief materials to flood affected people of Chengannur district in Kerala. PTI

When Bihar faced widespread floods in August 2017, the Centre gave it financial assistance of Rs 1,853 crore ($289 million), the largest that year. Those floods killed 649 people and 256 cattle, destroying 810,000 hectares of farmland and 357,197 houses, as per this Lok Sabha reply dated 24 July, 2018.

The central government recently released an interim sum of Rs 600 crore. An IndiaSpend analysis of the cost of some other public expenses incurred by the central government shows that this interim relief is less than:

The amount allocated towards the construction of an exhibition cum convention centre (ECC), Dwarka, New Delhi– Rs 700 crore.

- the amount spent on the purchase of two new VVIP aircraft for special flights operated by Air India for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister — Rs 4,469.5 crore ($640 million);

- the allocation made by the Centre for the revival of 50 airports/airstrips under the Regional Connectivity Scheme — Rs 890 crore.

Telangana pledged most — 12 percent of total aid announced by 24 states

Besides the Centre, 24 states have promised Rs 206 crore to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF). The CMDRF has so far received Rs 210 crore of financial assistance in addition to the Rs 160 crore pledged, according to Finance minister TM Thomas Isaac’s tweet.

Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund has so far received ₹210cr.This is in addition to the pledge for financial assistance of ₹160 crores. We feel humbled by this overwhelming response and pledge to to strive to meet your expectations. (htpps://donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/)

— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

Telangana is the biggest state donor so far at Rs 25 crore, which is 12 percent of the aid promised by 24 states. The state has also offered reverse osmosis machines worth Rs 2.5 crore to provide drinking water to those affected by the floods, as per a state press release.

Maharashtra ranks second on the generosity list, having announced a relief fund of Rs 20 crore, according to an official press release. Also, 11 tonnes of dry food, 30 tonnes of relief material and 50 doctors are being flown in to Kerala by the state.

A man cleans up his house after flood water subsided at Chengannur district of the Kerala. PTI

The first financial aid to Kerala came from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Both contributed Rs 10 crore each towards the CMDRF. Tamil Nadu has also promised 500 tonnes of rice, 300 tonnes of milk powder, 15,000 litres of ultra-high temperature processed milk and 10,000 blankets and lungis. The Karnataka government has also offered to send a team of doctors and healthcare workers to Kerala’s rehabilitation camps.

Uttar Pradesh is the third largest contributor, at Rs 15 crore. The governments of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have all pledged Rs 10 crore each.

Other states have stepped forward too, donating to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund: Odisha (Rs 5 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 5 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 5 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 5 crore), Assam (Rs 3 crore), Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 3 crore), Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 2 crore) and Manipur (Rs 2 crore).

Offers to help are also pouring in from abroad. The United Arab Emirates announced a donation of Rs 700 crore for rehabilitation work. Qatar announced Rs 35 crore in assistance. In addition to this, Maldives has also offered Rs 35 lakh. However, the acceptance of foreign aid may be problematic — the National Disaster Policy of 2005 spoke of using national capacity to deal with domestic disasters.

Kerala floods...Seeing what we can do...Friends caring about each other...Stay Strong Kerala! pic.twitter.com/ZIjJQ2zdm2

— Ambassador Sam (@Chutintorn_Sam) August 18, 2018

Source: The Indian Express,  NDTV, and press releases of Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh state governments

The financial implications of Kerala’s losses are immense

This was followed by an announcement of Rs 100 crore on August 12, 2018, and Rs 500 crore on August 18, 2018, from the NDRF, according to a press release. In all, this amounts to Rs 600 crore.

The magnitude of damage caused by the incessant rains is worth exploring. The assessed losses, Rs 20,000 crore, can fund:

- the construction of more than 4 million houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (the prime minister’s housing project);

- 87 percent of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Rs 23,000 crore has been allocated towards the mission as of 2018-19);

- the construction of 57,000 km of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (the prime minister’s rural roads project);

- 26 wind power projects under the grid interactive renewable power banner;

- 14 missions such as the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (national higher education mission), according to this report on the outcome budget of 2018-19.

With Rs 20,000 crore alone, Kerala could’ve funded, according to the 2018-19 budget:

- 20 years’ worth of food subsidies (Rs 954 crore had been budgeted under food subsidies this year.)

- LIFE housing schemes to provide accommodations to 1.4 million people. The floods displaced more than 1.2 million people this year. (Rs 2,500 crore had been allocated this year to provide houses to 176,000 landless people.)

- Almost 11 years’ worth of public health infrastructure. (This year the government had earmarked Rs 1,685.70 crore.)

Past experience of dealing with disasters

Relief and rehabilitation is primarily undertaken by state governments. It is funded by state disaster response funds, to which central and state governments contribute in the ratio of 75:25 for general category states and 90:10 for 11 special category states considered “disadvantaged”, according to a 3 January, 2018, reply by Kiren Rijiju in Lok Sabha.

Calamities identified as “severe” are assisted from the centrally controlled National Disaster Response Fund. In 2017-18, many states suffered severe flooding, including Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Bihar, as we said, received the largest chunk of aid (Rs 1,853 crore) from the Centre in 2017-18 for flooding, followed by West Bengal (Rs 751.5 crore).

India could see a six-fold increase in population exposed to a risk of severe floods by 2040, according to a study published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed journal, IndiaSpend reported on 10 February, 2018, and a 2018 World Bank study has warned that climate change could lower the standards of living of nearly half of India’s population by 2050.