NEW DELHI: The West Bengal administration’s refusal to provide assistance to the two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams despatched to assist the state can have serious security implications if provisions of the Disaster Management Act are examined as they empower the Centre to deploy military or paramilitary to enforce guidelines issued by the home ministry in any part of the country.Given the sensitivity of the Covid-19 situation, the Centre may choose persuasion or even a hard nudge rather than invoke the more stringent provisions of the law. As it is, the Trinamool Congress has raised the issue of federalism and an emotive outburst of populist emotions will worry the Centre.But at present, the DM Act has been invoked to put the country under lockdown till May 3. The Act overrides all existing laws in the country. In addition, Section 35(2)(f) of the Act empowers the Centre to deploy military or any central paramilitary force to effectively enforce implementation of the guidelines issued under the Act.States are bound to comply with central directives and “make available their resources” to the central team for “responding promptly and effectively to any disaster in the state”. In case of West Bengal, preliminary reports received by the home ministry had indicated “violence on frontline healthcare professionals, complete violations of social distancing norms outside banks, PDS shops and in market places and movement of private and commercial vehicles with passengers in urban areas”.Though in its communication to the chief secretary, the Centre only quoted Sections 35(1), 35(2)(a), 35(2)(e) and 35(2)(i) that talk about coordination, cooperation and securing effective implementation of the DM Act, there are other provisions that provide for arrest of a state official if he or she refuses to abide by the central directives.If there is a showdown between the Centre and states in implementation of disaster management guidelines, the Act empowers the Centre for “deployment of naval, military and air force, other armed forces of the Union or any other civilian personnel as may be required for the purposes of this Act”.While Sections 38 and 39 of the Act make it compulsory that resources of the state are made available to the central team for “responding promptly and effectively” to the disaster, Sections 55 and 56 provide for punishment of up to one year and with fine on failure of any officer of the state “in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provisions of the Act”.