Amid the repeated demands by Congress leaders led by Rahul Gandhi and the Kerala government to declare the Wayanad landslides a national disaster, it has emerged that there exists no such legal provision to declare the same, as per Central government rules. The same was outlined by the Congress-led UPA government in 2013.
The then Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran, in a reply to a similar question in Lok Sabha, said, "There is no provision to declare a natural disaster as a national disaster."
Despite the rules in place, the Congress party has been repeatedly demanding national disaster status for the Wayanad tragedy. Rahul Gandhi, who is a former MP from the constituency, also shared a post ahead of PM Modi's visit to the region to take stock of relief measures.
"Thank you, Modi ji, for visiting Wayanad to personally take stock of the terrible tragedy. This is a good decision. I am confident that once the Prime Minister sees the extent of the devastation firsthand, he will declare it a national disaster," Rahul said on X.
BJP leaders have accused Congress of politicising the tragedy and scoring political points. BJP leader Anil Antony said that Rahul has been a Parliamentarian for many years and is also the Leader of the Opposition but is bent on taking political mileage over a tragedy that claimed more than 200 lives.
Ramachandran, a former State Congress president, further stated in his reply, "Government of India adjudges a calamity of severe nature on case-to-case basis taking into account inter-alia the intensity and magnitude of the calamity, level of relief assistance, the capacity of the State Government to tackle the problem, the alternatives and flexibility available within the plan to provide succour and relief etc. The priority is immediate relief and response assistance in the context of a natural calamity. As such there is no fixed prescribed norms. However, for calamity of a 'severe nature', additional assistance is also considered from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), after following the established procedure."
Ramachandran, in his 2013 reply, also pointed out that state governments concerned are primarily responsible for undertaking necessary rescue and relief measures in the wake of natural disasters.
(With inputs from IANS)
