THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Since it is the election season, the centre says that there will be no help unless Kerala complies with the branding condition to which Kerala replied with a no. With this, the Centre has rejected Kerala's request for central assistance schemes worth 2088.50 crores.

Kerala applied on 30th August and got a reply to file the application after securing the branding condition. Centre gave time till September 30 to file a new application but Kerala replied that it cannot comply with the branding condition. With this, the application was rejected. The respective departments have written to the Center requesting to waive the branding requirement, but the Central Government has not responded. Meanwhile, the Centre's explanation is that branding is not the problem and that Kerala's application was rejected due to non-compliance with the prescribed conditions for central projects. It is also pointed out that the exact figure of the aid given in the previous year has not been submitted.

The Centre has clarified that branding as suggested by the Centre was not implemented in the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), a drinking water sanitation project of the Ministry of Jal Shakti; Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centers under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; National Health Mission; Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Poshan Abhiyaan under the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare. Kerala is in a situation where planning projects have to be cut due to a financial crisis.

The central government explains that the practice of Kerala is to change the names and methods of the central projects and implement them as state projects and the objectives of the schemes are being lost and the people are not benefiting due to this.