TN government moves Supreme Court seeking to release damage relief due to heavy rainfall in southern districts

The Tamilnadu Government represented by its chief Secretary has moved a suit through Senior Advocate P Wilson and counsel D Kumanan.

The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to release relief funds as financial assistance for the damage caused by cyclone Michaung and unprecedented extremely heavy rainfall in southern districts of the state. The Tamil Nadu government represented by its chief Secretary has moved a suit through senior advocate P Wilson and counsel D Kumanan.

In the plea, the TN government urged the Supreme Court to issue a direction to consider its representation regarding the release of a sum of Rs. 19,692.69 crore to the plaintiff as financial assistance for the damage caused by cyclone "Michaung" in December 2023 within a time frame. The TN Government also sought to consider the representation regarding the release of a sum of Rs 18,214.52 crore to the plaintiff as financial assistance for the damage caused by the unprecedented extremely heavy rainfall in southern districts of Tamil Nadu on December 17- 18, 2023 within a time frame.

The TN Government in the plea said that despite the IMCT reports, which visited Cyclone affected districts and made a comprehensive assessment of the situation, the Government of India has not taken a final decision on the assistance to the State from the National Disaster Response Fund even after a lapse of almost three months from the date of submission of memoranda. The TN Government said that the inaction on the part of the Government of India to act on the reports and take a final decision to release financial assistance to the State is ex-facie illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens under Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Despite several requests, the Government of India has not released any funds to the State of Tamil Nadu towards relief and restoration for the twin calamities viz, Cyclone "Michaung" (Migjaum) and Unprecedented Rains and Floods in Southern Districts from the NDRF, the suit said.

According to the plaintiff, there has been an inordinate delay by the Ministry of Home Affairs in convening a High-Level Committee meeting to approve the quantum of relief from NDRF and the consequential release of the funds to the State of Tamil Nadu by the Finance Ministry which hampers the State development and causes mental agony and hardships to the people of this State who have suffered the severe natural calamities and who are expecting the relief measures from the Plaintiff State. "The 15th finance commission which has allocated National Disaster Response funds for the award period 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 has dealt with the additional financial assistance in the event of a disaster of severe nature. This has been scrupulously complied with by the plaintiff. Therefore, there is no valid reason or justification to delay the disbursement of funds to the Plaintiff State when all the required formalities are fulfilled as per the guidelines and the National Disaster Management Act 2005," the plaintiff said.

TN said that it is being treated unfairly by the Defendants for not releasing the NDRF despite being assessed by the experts, IMCT, and sub-committee of the National Executive Committee. There is no justification for delaying the release of funds. The differential treatment in the release of funds in comparison to other states is tantamount to class discrimination. It violates the fundamental rights of those who have suffered due to calamities and faced greater hardships and irreparable losses. This step-motherly treatment violates the National Disaster Management Policy, including financial relations and the federal nature of tax division by unfairly allocating funds to some states over others, the state government said. Despite several requests, the Union of India has not released the funds to the State of Tamil Nadu towards relief and complete restoration of the damages caused due to cyclones and floods from the NDRF, the suit further added. (ANI)

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