Kerala government has strongly protested against the Central government over the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) renewed demand that the state recompensate the outstanding Rs.132 crore airway bill incurred by the Ministry of Defence during disaster-related humanitarian operations since 2019.
The IAF has sent a `132.62 crore bill to the state government for the airlifting and rescue activities conducted by the force during the landslide. In a letter to the Kerala Chief Secretary ,a joint secretary in the rank of Air Vice Marshal in the Ministry of Defence’s Department of Military Affairs had raised the demand for settlement of outstanding airlift charges since 2019
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Speaking to media persons in Thrissur, Revenue Minister K. Rajan took strong exception to the communique from the Centre government stipulating that Kerala urgently remit the significant operational costs sustained by the IAF for search, rescue and relief operations during natural disasters, including the recent Wayanad landslide.
He portrayed the communique as the latest example of the Centre’s discrimination towards Kerala.He said the Centre unjustly wanted the state to recompense the IAF for humanitarian operations conducted during catastrophic natural disasters, including the 2019 floods, by dipping into the administration’s State Disaster Relief Funds(SDRF).
Meanwhile, MPs from Kerala staged a demonstration outside Parliament on Saturday. UDF and LDF MPs from Kerala raised the slogan, “Kerala is a part of India.” Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi also joined the protest,chanting the slogan in Malayalam.
The Opposition MPs carried banners that read, “Justice for Wayanad, Provide relief package for Wayanad” and “Wayanad ko nyay do, bedbav na karein,” while raising slogans such as “stop discrimination against Kerala.”
Priynka Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should set aside partisan politics in times of national tragedies and reassert his role as the custodian of citizens’ lives and property.
CPI-M leader K Radhakrishnan, MP, told media persons in New Delhi that the Centre had insulted Keralites by demanding cash for IAF’s disaster operations when the State was struggling to rehabilitate disaster-hit people in Wayanad.
