Ernakulam: Taking a major dig at the central government by the state government in High Court, the counsel for the state government submitted that the union government has written off high-value loans of businesses, but the request to write off loans of landslide-affected families in Wayanad is still pending. The submission was made by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said in a statement filed in the High Court.
The contention, delivered in an apparently combative tone, comes as a response to the Centre, which has told the High Court that Kerala did not comply with mandatory norms while seeking relief assistance.
“In the exercise of Section 13 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) may consider writing off personal loans, motor vehicle loans, housing loans, and other loans of the affected families. It may be noted that many media reports show that the Government of India has benevolently written off high-value loans of businesses. The quantum of loan of the disaster-affected community at Meppadi will be a minuscule amount compared to the values that are often seen reported in media,” reads the KSDMA statement.
The Central government counsel has informed the Kerala High court that Kerala has Rs 782.99 crore in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the management of necessary relief measures in the affected areas. In the aftermath of the instant landslide/flash flood incident in Wayanad, the Central Government has released both the instalments of its share of SDRF in advance, amounting to Rs 145.60 crore each on July 31 and October 1, respectively, it said.
However, the counsel of Kerala government doesn’t dispute this, according to the statement. The contention is on the matter that Kerala has yet to receive any specific immediate additional relief assistance for a calamity that resulted in the death of 251 people and 47 still missing, KSDMA pointed out.
