Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 12 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to restore a key provision in the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 that allowed financial relief for victims of natural disasters.
The CM’s letter follows the Central government’s decision to remove Section 13 from the 2005 Act through an amendment notified in March 2025.
The section gave the National Disaster Management Authority the power to recommend loan moratoriums and fresh credit under easy terms to those hit by severe natural calamities.
Vijayan warned that removing this provision, which was originally included on humanitarian grounds, would only deepen the suffering of disaster-hit families trying to rebuild their lives.
According to the state government, this section provided much-needed relief to people facing huge losses and taking it away is a step backwards.
Vijayan called on the Prime Minister to step in urgently and issue directions to reinstate the clause.
A CMO source said the issue came to a head after the Central government informed the High Court that, due to the recent amendment, it could no longer allow loans to be written off for victims of landslide disaster in the Mundakkai–Chooralmala villages in Wayanad district of Kerala.
Kerala had submitted its first disaster relief request to the Centre on August 17, 2024, soon after the disaster struck.
A detailed Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report followed on November 13, 2024–both at a time when Section 13 was still in effect. However, the Gazette notification removing the section was issued only on March 29, 2025. The amendment does not apply retrospectively. Despite this, the Centre argued it could not offer financial relief, citing the changed law.
The Kerala High Court later took up the matter on its own, criticising the Centre’s refusal to help and urging it to take a supportive stance. Even the court expressed frustration at the Centre’s inaction, the CMO source noted. PTI TGB TGB KH
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