The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Was Manmohan's letter deliberately delayed, asks Jayalalithaa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Was Manmohan's letter deliberately delayed, asks Jayalalithaa

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 7. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today wondered whether the delay in the letter, dated January 31, written by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to her on tsunami relief for States was deliberate.

The Chief Minister said she was not sure when it was despatched. The normal practice adopted when such communication was sent — sending a facsimile copy — was not followed. Hence, she was forced to infer that the letter was written at the insistence of the Union Finance Minister.

Ms. Jayalalithaa wanted to know how the Congress leader, S.R. Balasubramoniyan, was aware that the Prime Minister had written to her. It was because he knew about the letter that he repeatedly asked her about it on February 4, she said.

On January 31, the Union Home Ministry issued a directive to the Union Finance Ministry requesting it to "release funds in favour of the respective [tsunami affected] States from the NCCF [National Calamities Contingency Fund] immediately." Ms. Jayalalithaa said the Union Government did not issue GOs the way States did but the document was enough to prove that financial assistance was to be given to the States.

Mr. Balasubramoniyan contended that the communication was not even an office memorandum. There was no discrepancy between the letter and the Home Ministry order.

But after the Chief Minister speculated why the letter was written, the Congress members staged a walkout. The independent MLA from Radhapuram, Appavoo, also joined the protest.

Opposition members were on their feet asking the Speaker, K. Kalimuthu, to expunge the Chief Minister's remarks.

Mr. Balasubramoniyan told presspersons that there was nothing wrong in his knowing the contents of the letter or having a copy.

Official explanation

Though the letter and communication seem contradictory, officials in the know of the issue say the letter could in fact be a clarification. It was widely known that the NCCF was short of funds. Hence, when the Union Home Ministry wanted the amount released from the fund, there was a problem.

The Home Ministry directive was in no way ambiguous because it talked about releasing funds. For instance, the directive says: "The financial assistance for relief and response and fishing sector will be provided out of the NCCF subject to the adjustment of Rs. 450 crores released earlier as immediate assistance."

These were not suggestions. One official described the objections to the release of funds based on the order as "hair-splitting" and "unnecessary talk." The Prime Minister's letter — which said the relief amount would be routed through banks with the State Government identifying the beneficiaries — might have been to clarify this aspect. Since the NCCF did not have adequate finance, it was decided to draw the required amount from the banks. A mechanism was also in place to compensate them.

But this approach presented practical problems. For instance, based on the Union Home Ministry's directive, the Pondicherry Government already issued orders for relief and rehabilitation.

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