The corrupted Kerala government is not yet ready to put the relief fund account details to the public for accounting transparency. Lakhs of Indians had donated to Kerala relief fund, but it was pocketed by CM Pinarayi and team; Lokayukta begins an investigation. Reported in Postcard.
When the people in Kerala had faced the worst natural disaster, the entire nation lent its supporting hand to the state. From food materials and medicine to all other monetary help, everything was sent from all part of the world by Indians just to protect their country mates who were suffering in Kerala by a heavy flood.
But what the LDF government under Pinarayi Vijayan did? They hijacked the major part of the money that was donated by the Indians to the flood relief fund. This shocking information emerged after a case was filed by former Kerala University employee R S Sasikumar to Lokayukta.
The court was constituted after there was a difference of opinion among the Lokayukta and one of the UPA-lokayuktas regarding the jurisdiction of the agency to probe disbursement of assistance from CMDRF, reported on a local media.
Later on, the Lokayukta full bench headed by Justice Pius C Kuriakose accepted the valuable complaint and sent notice to 17 persons including the chief minister and other related ministers. Now the corrupted team is in trouble as the Lokayukta has asked them to be present before the bench.
The Kerala University employee R S Sasikumar said: “lakhs were sanctioned from the relief fund, without even an application, to the families of the late NCP leader Uzhavoor Vijayan, former Chengannur MLA K K Ramachandran Nair and the policeman who escorted Kodiyeri Balakrishnan”. It’s very clear that the fund was misused for political benefits.
Even his Adv George Poonthottam made the same point by saying that the relief fund was not the chief minister’s private property and hence money from the fund could be spent only as per rules. How can they give it to someone for political benefits?
The chief minister can grant assistance of up to 3 lakhs and anything more than this required cabinet approval but Uzhavur Vijayan’s family has given Rs 25 lakh and the kind of driver Praveen was granted Rs 20 lakh. The complainant Sasikumar also said that Ramachandran Nair’s loan liability of Rs 9 lakh was also given from the chief minister’s fund.
Months ago when Kerala was reeling in flood, instead of utilizing the flood relief fund effectively, Kerala CM Pinarayi used it for his luxury chopper rides. When questioned, he said “There’s nothing wrong in this. This is a usual practice”.
Photo credits: The Indian Express, verapoly.in, BBC.com, India Today, Bloomberg
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