PNS|Hyderabad
Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy told the Assembly that Telangana got no NDRF funds even during the years when there were heavy floods like the one in the Musi River. “A joke is being spread on social media that if it rains in Gujarat, Modi will catch a cold. Whenever there is a flood in his own state, the PM will immediately respond. Thousands of crores will be given before reports even reach New Delhi. People of states ruled by the BJP are seen in one way and the people of states ruled by opposition governments are seen in another way.
It is the duty of the Centre to provide relief whenever a natural calamity hits the country,” Vemula said.
Prashanth said that when the people of Telangana are facing natural calamities the Modi government gives no help.
“In September 2016 and October 2020, Telangana was hit by heavy rains. The Central team estimated that the 2016 rains caused a loss of Rs 3,851 crore. It is estimated that the 2020 rains caused a loss of around Rs 5,000 crore. TS suffered a total loss of Rs 8,851 crore in these two years. But the Centre did not give even a single paisa. But from 2018-19 to 2021-22, the Centre gave Rs 44,219 crore as relief to other states,” Vemula said.
He said no matter how many times the state government complained about flood relief, there was no response from the Centre. Even though KCR himself appealed once the Modi government did not care.
In October 2020, Hyderabad recorded the highest rainfall in its history. “KCR wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi saying that there was a loss of Rs 5,000 crore and asked for immediate relief of Rs 1,350 crore. But there was no response from the Centre. KCR went to New Delhi and asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for relief. But not a paisa was given. The refusal to help Telangana is proof of the Centre’s bias against the state,” Prashanth said.
KCR wrote a letter demanding flood relief on October 12, 2020, but the Prime Minister did not respond. But when the then Karnataka CM wrote a letter he immediately responded and released Rs 669 crore. In the case of floods in Gujarat, the Prime Minister gave Rs 500 crore.
On April 5, 2022, the Centre sanctioned funds to 16 states as flood relief for the 2020 floods. But Telangana was not mentioned in this. AP got Rs 351.43 crore, Gujarat Rs 1,000 crore, Karnataka Rs 994.27 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs 600 crore, Odisha Rs 500 crore, Bihar Rs 1,038 crore, Maharashtra Rs 355.39 crore and Tamil Nadu Rs 352.85 crore.
From 2018-19 to 2021-22, Rs 44,219 crore was released as disaster relief to all states but not a single Rupee was given to Telangana. Union Minister of State for Home Nithyananda Rai disclosed this in Parliament on July 19, 2022.
He said that the Centre is discriminating against Telangana by giving NDRF funds to only BJP-ruled states.
“Whenever natural calamities hit the state, KCR stands as Lord Rama protecting the state without waiting for Central assistance. In 2020, when there was a huge flood in Hyderabad the Centre did not respond. But the CM immediately released Rs 650 crore and gave flood victims Rs 10,000 each,” Prashanth said.
