I know that I will probably stir a hornet's nest with this statement. In the following paragraphs I will try to justify why I feel the government's decision is unwarranted though not necessarily unexpected. Firstly India has a long history of natural disasters. Rarely do we have a year when there is no large disaster, whether it is the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh or Orissa or the earthquakes in Latur or Gujarat. And it is the government machinery's job to be prepared for immediate action for rescue and relief.
Rehabilitation comes later.
And for rescue and relief, the need is not the immediate requirement of huge amount of funds. It is a question of deployment of manpower and resources and proper logistics planning. And this is where we fail miserably. Do not be surprised if we hear similar stories out of Gujarat very soon. For effective distribution funds are not required.