Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin and other political leaders in the State flayed the Union Government for releasing a measly amount of Rs 276.10 crore as flood relief when the State government had sought a relief package of Rs 37,907 crore to tide over the devastation caused by Cyclone Michaung and the floods in the southern districts in 2023.
No funds (nidhi) or justice (needhi) for Tamil Nadu from the deceitful Union Government, Stalin said in his message on X, adding that the people of the State were watching each and every action of the Union Government. Even the present release of funds was made only after the State government approached the Supreme Court, he said.
The State government had already spent Rs 2,477 crore towards providing immediate relief to the victims of the floods and reconstruction of infrastructural facilities from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), he said.
Soon after four northern districts of the State, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu, went under water due to the ravages of Cyclone Michaung in October, 2023, and four southern districts, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi, were heavily affected in December, teams from Delhi had come to take stock of situation and also assess the loss.
The State government on its party demanded a total of Rs 37,907 crore as relief for both the natural disasters and after a prolonged delay Rs 115.49 crore has been sanctioned for Cyclone Michaung and Rs 160.61 crore for the floods that sank the four southern districts,
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Edappadi K Palaniswami was also critical of the release of the less amount for flood relief and said that all Union Governments behaved the same way and deprived the States of funds. However, he blamed the DMK government for not being resourceful enough to get the necessary funds.
TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said the Union Government had been depriving Tamil Nadu of its due share of funds in the last 10 years and the present allocation made by the Union Home Ministry as flood relief was just a proof of that.
In a statement, he said that the Rs 276.10 crore released now was just the fund that was remaining in the SDRF after an earlier release of Rs 406.57 crore from the total amount of Rs 682.63 crore that was due for the State. So, no relief had been provided by the Union Home Ministry for the two disasters, he said.
