Pinarayi Vijayan accuses Centre of discrimination towards Kerala over landslide relief and Vizhinjam port VGF

Vijayan said that the Centre already gave assistance to many other states that suffered natural calamities of lesser intensity that too after the Chooralmala - Mundakkai landslides of Wayanad that took place on July 30. But the assistance to Wayanad is pending even 100 days after PM Modi visited the spot.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that the Centre was showing discrimination towards the state by delaying assistance for rehabilitation of the landslide affected people of Wayanad as well as for insisting on repayment of Viability Gap Fund (VGF) for the Vizhinjam international seaport.

Vijayan said that the Centre already gave assistance to many other states that suffered natural calamities of lesser intensity that too after the Chooralmala - Mundakkai landslides of Wayanad that took place on July 30. But the assistance to Wayanad is pending even 100 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the spot.

He also said that the Centre was now insisting on a share of profit from the Vizhinjam international seaport on the basis of the VGF of Rs. 817.80 crore given for the project. It could be also considered as a discrimination as there is no such repayment condition for the VGF of Rs 1,411 core allotted to Tuticorin outer harbour project of Tamil Nadu. The centre is trying to cause fiscal stress to the Kerala government, he added.

Vijayan accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of repeatedly misleading the Parliament and the people over Wayanad landslide. Shah had earlier claimed that the state had ignored alerts by central agencies regarding chances of landslides at Wayanad. It was later found to be false. Shah is now making similar misleading statements that the state delayed submitting memorandum seeking assistance for rehabilitation of the landslide affected.

He said that the state government submitted a memorandum on August 17 seeking a preliminary assistance of Rs 1,202 crore as per NDRF norms. The detailed memorandum with recovery and reconstruction estimate of Rs 2,221 core was submitted on November 13 after conducting post-disaster need assessment (PDNA). It was only a normal time taken as many other states had also earlier taken over three months for conducting PDNA. Hence there is no reason for blaming the state for the delay on the part of the centre in giving the assistance.