Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns over the central government’s relief package for Wayanad landslide victims, calling it a “shocking lack of sensitivity” towards those affected.
On July 30, 2024, a series of landslides struck Wayanad’s Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Punchiri Mattam villages, wiping out densely populated settlements. The disaster claimed over 250 lives, with another 200 reported missing. Last week, the central government sanctioned ₹529.50 crore in assistance to Kerala as an interest-free loan under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASC) for 50 years. The approval came months after the Kerala government sought a special financial package to cover rehabilitation costs, initially estimated at ₹2,262 crore. The Centre had earlier classified the Wayanad landslide as a “disaster of severe nature”.
“After continuous urging from the MPs of Kerala, the central government recently announced a relief package of ₹529.50 crore for the victims of the devastation. Apart from the fact of its inadequacy, it is unprecedented that the package comes with two conditionalities: first, that the funds shall be disbursed, not as a grant as in the norm, but as a loan, and second, that they should be spent in their entirety by March 31, 2025. These conditions are immensely unfair, they display a shocking lack of sensitivity towards the people of Chooralmala and Mundakkai who have suffered such shattering losses,” Gandhi, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, wrote in her letter.
The sanctioned funds are allocated for 16 rehabilitation projects in the most affected areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala. However, the imposed conditions have raised concerns among state officials.
Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal stated that “the requirement to utilise the funds within one-and-a-half months is impractical”. Leader of opposition VD Satheesan criticised the Centre’s decision to offer a loan instead of a financial grant, calling it a “mockery of the people of the state.”
Gandhi also pointed out that the calamity has not been declared a “national disaster” and expressed disappointment over the “inadequate” and conditional relief package.
“It is my earnest request to you to convert the relief package into a grant and extend the time period for its implementation. This will help them to begin rebuilding their lives. It will also reassure them that the future holds some measure of promise and hope,” she further wrote.