The foreign ministry said in a statement that while it appreciated offers of help from other nations, it would... Read More

(This story originally appeared in on Aug 24, 2018)

NEW DELHI: The UAE , Qatar and other foreign governments willing to extend financial support for relief work in Kerala would have to channel their support through international entities such as foundations and the aid may only be utilised for long-term rehabilitation programme, some experts have said.

The financial aid through foundations can be routed to Kerala either through PM relief fund or chief minister’s relief fund and such amount can be later utilised for infrastructure development or long-term rehabilitation, they said.

Shivshankar Menon, who was national security adviser and foreign secretary when the Congress-led UPA was in power, tweeted that the UPA had decided in 2004 to accept foreign funds not for immediate relief but only for long-term rehabilitation.

“If memory serves, the 2004 decision was to not accept foreign participation in relief but accept it for longterm rehabilitation case by case,” he tweeted.

The UAE has apparently offered Rs 700 crore – which is more than what the central government has granted so far – of financial aid to Kerala after the southern state suffered its worst flood in almost a century, while Qatar has pledged Rs 35 crore and Maldives has announced a donation of Rs 35 lakh. Thailand’s envoy also hinted in a tweet that the southeast Asian country wanted to help Kerala but the Centre has refused.

The Narendra Modi government has upheld India's in-principle policy since the early part of the last decade of being an aid-giver and not an aid-taker, people familiar with the matter said. New Delhi has emerged a grant and aid provider in various parts of the developing world, and the government wants that standing to remain, they said.

The foreign ministry late on Wednesday said in a statement that while it appreciated offers of help from other nations, it would prefer domestic efforts to raise funds.

“Contributions to PM relief fund and CM relief fund from NRIs, PIOs and international entities such as foundations would, however, be welcome,” it said.

The Kerala government, struggling with the prospect of a huge rebuilding effort, had welcomed the UAE's offer, and has appealed to the Centre to accept the offer from the Gulf country, home to around 2.8 million expatriate Indians, most of whom hail from Kerala.

The state government has cited the National Disaster Management Plan of 2016 to press its point to accept voluntary foreign aid. “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,” says a section on ‘International Cooperation’ in the plan published in 2016.

