Thiruvananthapuram: The central government continues its discriminatory stance against Kerala even while providing assistance to migitage the coronavirus pandemic.

Kerala, which stands second among the worst-hit states in case of COVID-19, was only granted Rs 157 crore to counter the pandemic.

At the same time, North Indian states with less the number of coronavirus positive cases, have been provided more aid.

While, Maharashtra, which has the most number of COVID-19 patients, was given Rs 1,611 crore, Kerala was provided only Rs 157 crore.

The Finance Ministry on Friday had released Rs 17,287 crore to states to enhance their financial resources during the COVID-19 crisis.

Of this amount, Rs 11,092 crore is towards State Disaster Response Mitigation Fund (SDRMF) to all states.

An amount of Rs 6,195 crore has been released as ''Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant'' to 14 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The remaining Rs 11,092 crore is to all states as advanced payment of Central share of first instalment of SDRMF. This includes Rs 1,611 crore to Maharashtra, Rs 966 crore to Uttar Pradesh, Rs 910 crore to Madhya Pradesh, Rs 708 crore to Bihar, Rs 802 crore to Odisha, Rs 740.50 crore to Rajasthan, and Rs 505.50 crore to West Bengal.

(With PTI inputs)