New Delhi: Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and ex-minister Binoy Viswam has sought the Supreme Court's help to let Kerala accept foreign aid when calamities wreak havoc, even as the Centre insists that the rules do not allow it. Viswam pressed his plea as uncertainty persists about the aid offered by foreign countries, especially the UAE, to the flood-ravaged state.
“Refusing aid is a violation of the right to live,” says Viswam's plea.
Complaints have been aired as the Central government expressed helplessness about accepting aid offers from foreign countries. The BJP and its Union ministers went to the extent of alleging that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM are stirring up unwanted controversy about a Rs 700-crore aid that they claim the UAE hasn't in fact announced.
However, the state government is still optimistic about the foreign aid, and the chief minister expressed such sentiments in his media interaction on Friday. “The UAE had informed the prime minister that it will provide financial assistance; we are hopeful it will come,” he said.
At the same time, the UAE ambassador in New Delhi, Ahmed Al Banna, clarified that the Emirati government had not officially announced any financial support to Kerala. He asserted that the assistance to be provided was being assessed.
