Declining UAE aid: Centre following "dog in the manger" policy: Thomas Isaac

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac lambasted the decision of the Central government not to accept the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offer of flood relief to the tune of Rs 700 crore. He said that the Centre's position amounted to a dog in the manger policy. The dog in the manger will neither eat the hay nor let the cattle eat it.

In his Facebook post, Isaac criticized the Central Government's official policy on the pretext that accepting foreign contribution is against national policy, whereas the fact is there is no policy or legal obstacle for taking that amount. This is a contribution towards relief from a serious disaster.

He pointed out that the 'National Disaster Management Plan 2016' makes it clear that in such situations the aid from foreign governments can be accepted with the Central Government's permission.

If the Centre's policy is that India being a big financial power, it will not be appropriate to take aid from small countries, then the question arises why the central government is not able to grant even the amount that the UAE government has granted.