The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : ANTI-FEDERAL AND BREACH OF FAITH

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Tuesday, Feb 01, 2005

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ANTI-FEDERAL AND BREACH OF FAITH

THE DECISION REPORTEDLY taken by the Central Government, on the recommendation of the Union Finance Ministry, on a "Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package for Tsunami-Affected Areas," and specifically to route the subsidy-cum-loan package for the livelihood of the tsunami-affected fishermen through the nationalised and commercial banks, is high-handed and cuts at the root of the federal constitutional structure. When all major Centrally sponsored schemes are being implemented through State Governments, it is surprising and deplorable that the Centre should have decided to ignore the States in this instance and try to reach the intended beneficiaries through the banks. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's opposition to the move is well reasoned and wholly just. She has requested the Prime Minister to intervene to reverse the arrangement set out by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in a recent press statement. Her stand will have silent backing from the Congress-ruled States of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and even the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The Constitution prescribes the rules of the game for the conduct of Centre-State relations. In addition, norms, procedures, and conventions have evolved over the decades. When these are violated, all States, not just the immediately affected ones, need to worry and resist.

Tamil Nadu is way and ahead the worst affected among the tsunami-hit States. More than 8,000 people have been killed, over 150,000 families have been rendered homeless, and livelihood and property have suffered staggering damage. Responding to the challenge on "a war footing," the State Government took up rescue, life saving, relief, and immediate rehabilitation work without waiting for any Central financial assistance. It was also the first to come up with a livelihood rehabilitation package for fishermen. Only after undertaking these tasks did the State approach the Centre for assistance to finance further relief and rehabilitation operations. Following the Chief Minister's discussion with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Chennai, the proposals, which had the support of all political parties in Tamil Nadu, were discussed in detail with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and fine-tuned. Specifically, grant assistance to the tune of Rs.1030.93 crore was sought for a rehabilitation package for fisherfolk. They were becoming restive; their livelihood was at stake, and without immediate financial assistance they could not hope to repair or replace their fishing craft. Following press reports and other indications that a massive assistance package had been finalised by the Union Cabinet, and that Tamil Nadu was going to get Rs.2262 crore out of the Rs.2731 crore allotted to the three southern States plus Pondicherry, the Tamil Nadu Government announced a major package for the livelihood rehabilitation of fishermen. The Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry did likewise — as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa points out, "on the specific understanding that the assistance from the Government of India would be given to the State/Union Territory to take up the rehabilitation programme of fishermen."

The Central decision to have the subsidy and loan amounts for the purchase of fishing craft and related items disbursed directly by nationalised and commercial banks is not merely anti-federal. It is a breach of political faith. It is also non-practical: how on earth can the banks identify the beneficiaries or those eligible for assistance without going through the State administration that is directly and intensively engaged in relief, rehabilitation, and rebuilding operations in the tsunami-hit districts? Read along with the partisan, over-the-top decision to name the rehabilitation package after Rajiv Gandhi, the financing arrangement seems to be for the sole purpose of deriving narrow political gain. As the move seems to reflect a Cabinet decision, it is up to the Prime Minister to set matters right before further damage is done to federal relations. He must rise above partisan considerations and ensure that Central financial assistance for rehabilitation goes to the victims of the tsunami through the elected State Governments.

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