Centre‘s help for Kerala meagre, says Naidu

Calling the Centre’s financial help for Kerala meagre compared to the calamity that had struck the coastal state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday demanded that the Union government declare it a national calamity.

He also demanded central assistance for flood-hit Karnataka.

Recalling the state’s experience during the Hud Hud cyclone that hit the eastern Naval Command headquarters Visakhapatnam, Naidu said that the Modi government failed to deliver on the promise of Rs 1,000 crore, putting the state under severe financial stress.

“Centre must handhold Kerala till the state stands on its feet,” he said while speaking to reporters in Amravati.

“We have sent Rs 10 crore as financial aid and the total quantum of help will be around Rs 50 crore after adding up the donations by different sections of the people. We are also making arrangements for sending 2,000 metric tons of parboiled rice to Kerala,” Naidu said.

Rice from Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also instructed the officials to send 500 tons of rice to Kerala, in response to a request from his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan. The Kerala chief minister had written a letter to Rao, thanking him for Rs 25 crore aid, water purifying machines and Balamrutham, a nutritious food.

All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen, through its charitable trust, donated Rs 16 lakh to the Kerala CMO Relief Fund on Monday.