Row over the foreign aid to Kerala floods
Does accepting foreign aid for relief and rehabilitation work in the wake of a natural calamity weakens the reputation of a country or does it show the inclusiveness and openness of a country to be open to foreign aid without feeling any shame? This question has stirred a debate with the Central government led BJP declining any foreign aid to the victims of Kerala floods and the Congress Party criticizing the Central government for being averse to voluntary foreign add at a time when Kerala needs the most for relief and rehabilitation.
The central government has stated that the domestic efforts are enough to provide the required aid for the rehabilitation of the flood victims and reconstruction of the state. It has further added that not accepting any foreign aid at a time of a calamity, the Central government is only following the convention started Dr Manmohan Singh government in 2005.
According to those supporting this move of the Central government, the Modi government has done the right thing not accepting the foreign aid as it would send out a message across the world that India is incapable of dealing with the disasters if India accepts foreign aid.
While Congress party has said that at a time when the state suffers from the worst flood ever, the need of the hour is to rescue and rehabilitate the victims of the flood with whatever aid coming from any quarter of the world. UAE and Qatar have voluntarily come forward to provide an aid worth 700 crore rupees and 35 crore rupees respectively.
Former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao has twitted, “True that as a country we can give rather than take assistance, but 80% of Indians in the Gulf are Malayalis. The offer of flood relief assistance from region must be treated with sensitivity. Saying no is simple, but for Kerala-in-crisis, it’s not so simple” It is also being speculated that if it India doesn’t accept the aid from the UAE, it may only deteriorate the relations between the two countries.
Is the Central government bound any statutory provision which prohibits it to accept foreign aid at times of natural calamity?
There isn’t any law that prohibits the Central government to accept the foreign aid. In fact, the convention started Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2005 was unwritten one. There is one sentence in the “National Disaster Management Plan of May 2016” which states-
“If the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the Central Government may accept the offer”.
The word ‘may’ clearly implies that whether to accept or deny the foreign aid in calamities is a discretion of the Central government.
Will India look like a poor country if India accepts the voluntary aid of the foreign countries?
Not taking the foreign aid from a hostile country, such as Pakistan in the case of India, is understandable. But the argument that India’s reputation will be dented accepting the foreign aid doesn’t hold much water. There are instances of the developed countries such as USA, China and Japan which have accepted the foreign aid in the past at times of natural calamities, but it neither made these countries look like poor and helpless nor did it put any burden upon them.
Currently, I am pursuing B.A(H) Political science from Satyawati College, Delhi University.
I like public speaking, writing and reading in my leisure.
