Centre-State Tussle: After Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Moves Supreme Court Over Flood Relief Funds

In the wake of devastating floods that ravaged Tamil Nadu in December last year, the state government has made an urgent plea to the Supreme Court, seeking an ex-parte order compelling the central government to release Rs 2,000 crore as part of an interim relief package for the affected districts.

Accusing the central government of differential treatment in the allocation of relief funds, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin asserted that the lack of financial assistance amounted to discrimination, violating the fundamental rights of the state's residents.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, refuted these claims, denying any delay or neglect in releasing the requisite funds.

In a recent statement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised that Tamil Nadu had already received Rs 900 crore through the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF).

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She further highlighted an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore earmarked for constructing stormwater drains in Chennai.

In a parliamentary session earlier this year, Finance Minister Sitharaman had also engaged in a heated exchange with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over allegations of withheld funds.

Similar grievances were voiced by other non-BJP states, including Karnataka and Kerala.

Earlier, Karnataka had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court alleging that the central government was denying financial assistance for drought management to the state.

Recently, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had challenged that if Amit Shah proves his statement that Karnataka government has delayed in submitting a memorandum for drought relief fund, he would resign.

"We have submitted all the related records to the Supreme Court on delay by the Union Government in releasing the drought relief fund. If it were to be false, we could not have approached the Apex Court," he added.

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