Thiruvananthapuram: In yet another case of discrimination meted out by the centre, Kerala has been asked to pay up for the rice allotted to the state during the 2019 floods. The central government has demanded an amount of Rs 205.81 crore for the 89,540 metric tonnes of rice distributed in Kerala through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

In a letter to Kerala Disaster Management Authority, the FCI general manager says that the amount was not paid despite repeated reminders. FCI wants the state to take immediate steps to transfer the money to the Centre.

The move comes after Kerala was totally ignored by the Centre while sanctioning flood relief on Monday. While seven other states received Rs 5,908 crore for various calamities in 2019, Kerala was given nothing. The decision was taken by a meeting presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The amount sought by Kerala to carry out relief activities after the floods was Rs 2,109.

Earlier, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 3,200 crore as interim relief to four states. Even at the time, Kerala had not been given any money. The flood relief sanctioned to the state for 2018 had also been relatively low.