When the flood situation worsened by mid-August, the state government requested Rs 1,220 crores from the National Disaster Response Fund for immediate relief assistance. On 13 August, the Centre allotted only Rs 100 crores for this purpose, even though the State Finance Minister publicly stated that Kerala needed Rs 3,000 crores for immediate relief work.

On 18 August, the Prime Minister visited Kerala and announced an additional assistance of Rs 500 crores, less than half of what the state government requested as immediate assistance (not even counting foreseeable long-term reconstruction needs).

The UAE offered assistance to the tune of Rs 700 crores, and Mr Modi, on Twitter, thanked Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of UAE, but his government let it be known to the media, that the UAE grant would be rejected (though the Central Government has not issued a formal statement). BJP spokesmen have explained that the Modi government’s stance comes from an earlier policy decision of the UPA government, to not accept foreign aid for tsunami relief.

Section 11 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has mandated the formulation of a Nation Plan as a policy framework to govern disaster management in India. Paragraph 9.2 of the National Disaster Management Plan, 2016 clearly states, “As a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster. However, 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.”