Coming as a major relief for Kerala, which is struggling to deal with the aftermath of the recent floods, the United Arab Kingdom has promised an assistance of Rs 700 crore.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the media about this in a press meet, adding that he was grateful to the UAE.
“The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan informed this to Lulu Group Chairman MA Yusuff Ali,” the CM said.
The UAE administration has communicated this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
“For scores of Keralites, Gulf is their second home. Keralites are not mere workers there. If we take the population and houses there, a Keralite would have some kind of connection with many of the houses there. There is a Malayali touch in everything. In our current distress, the people in the Gulf are as emotional as we are. Sheik Mohammed has communicated to the Prime Minister about their decision to help. They have decided to give $100 million as assistance, that would be 700 crore in Indian rupees. I would like to express my gratitude to the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid on behalf of Malayalis,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.
The UAE Crown Prince informed about the decision to provide assistance when Yusuff Ali met the ruler to wish him on Bakrid.
“The promise of assistance is something that gives us strength, it implies that the world community is with us,” the CM added.
While the foreign country has pledged Rs 700 cr, the Centre’s assistance for the state is just Rs 600 crore. Earlier Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced Rs 100 crore as relief. The Prime Minister, during his visit to the state on August 18, declared an assistance of Rs 500 crore, while the Chief Minister’s request was for an immediate relief of Rs 2,000 crore to deal with the crisis.
A special state cabinet meeting will be held on August 30 to discuss the rehabilitation and reconstruction.
During a media briefing on Monday night, the Chief Minister said that rebuilding was going to need a lot of funds. The amount allotted for Kerala’s annual outlay in this fiscal year is Rs 37,248 crore. A primary estimation of the losses from the floods amount to Rs 20,000 crore, which will increase in the days to come.
Between August 8 to 20, 223 people have died in the floods in the state. As many as 10,28,073 people are staying in 3,274 relief camps across the state.
Last week, the UAE Prime Minister had come out in support of the state and ordered the formation of an emergency committee to provide relief.