COVID-19: Was Kerala, one of the worst-affected states, treated unfairly by Centre?

Has Kerala been meted out a raw deal by the Union government even as the state is continuing to grapple with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Kerala is one of the worse affected states, behind Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi. Before the Nizamuddin Markaz fiasco, Kerala was second in terms of the number of people affected by coronavirus.

On Friday, finance ministry released Rs 17,287 crore to states to enhance their financial resources during the COVID-19 crisis. Of this, Rs 11,092 crore is towards State Disaster Response Mitigation Fund (SDRMF) to all states while Rs 6,195 crore has been released as 'Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant' to 14 states—Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal—under 15th Finance Commission recommendations.

Under the SDRMF, Kerala, one of the worst affected states, received only Rs 157 crore. According to a PTI report, Maharashtra received Rs 1,611 crore, and Uttar Pradesh Rs 966 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh (Rs 910 crore), Bihar (Rs 708 crore) and Odisha (Rs 802 crore).

SDRMF is to used for setting up quarantine facilities and additional testing laboratories, sample collection and screening, and for the purchase of personal protection equipment (PPE), thermal scanners, ventilators, air purifiers.

Has Kerala been given a step-motherly treatment by Centre, despite being one of the worst affected cases as the fund offered to it under SDRMF looks scarce. However, according to a tweet by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Kerala has been granted Rs 1,276 crore under ‘revenue deficit grant’ under 15th Finance Commission recommendations to 14 states. Other states that were offered the payment include Himachal Pradesh (over Rs 952 crore) Punjab (Rs 638 crore), Assam (Rs 631 crore), Andhra Pradesh (491 crore).