Veteran Congress leader AK Antony and Opposition leader VD Satheesan have urged the public to contribute to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), which is intended for the rehabilitation of victims of the Wayanad landslide. This comes in the midst of disagreements regarding the CMDRF. On Tuesday, Boss Pastor Pinarayi Vijayan had sentenced endeavors to dishonor the CMDRF. He stated that specific personal stakes had wrongly blamed the CMDRF for lacking straightforwardness and misallocating assets to undeserving beneficiaries.
Previous Guard Pastor and ex-Kerala CM Antony declared that he would handover a check of Rs 50,000 to the CMDRF. While portraying the avalanches in Wayanad as an uncommon misfortune, he underlined the requirement for solidarity in supporting the impacted families. ” “Everyone should generously contribute to the CMDRF for the rehabilitation of the families that have been left there after the calamity, putting aside politics and other disagreements,” Antony told reporters on Wednesday. He additionally noticed that the specific number of losses was at this point unclear and focused on the significance of restoring the impacted individuals.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday explicitly tended to claims circling via virtual entertainment that supposed the public authority had misused a huge part of the asset to the Kerala State Monetary Undertakings (KSFE) for buying workstations. He clarified that the CMDRF had backed the KSFE’s effort to provide laptops to students who relied on online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that these claims were a deliberate distortion of the facts meant to undermine the credibility of the fund.
He accentuated that the Representative and Reviewer General (CAG) had evaluated the utilization of CMDRF assets from 2016 to 2019 and tracked down no abnormalities. He reiterated that the Kerala Legislative Assembly would examine and audit the CMDRF.
Vijayan featured that an electronic stage deals with the CMDRF, supervising the inflow and outpouring of assets. The CMDRF account is managed by the State Bank of India (SBI), and Raveendra Kumar Agarwal, the Principal Secretary (Finance), is in charge of it. Reserves are dispensed to recipients exclusively through bank moves, requiring Agarwal’s endorsement. The CMDRF is run by the Revenue department, and the Principal Secretary (Revenue) keeps an eye on contributions and withdrawals.
Vijayan said that despite the transparency and accountability of the fund, some people still tried to question its integrity. He mentioned that, regardless of political affiliation, a number of service and teacher organizations had agreed to give the CMDRF five days’ salary, either in one lump sum or in installments.
In the meantime, Opposition Leader VD Satheesan refuted claims that he advised against CMDRF contributions.
A screen capture coursed by CPM individuals had proposed he had prompted against giving to the Central Clergyman’s Alleviation Asset. He clarified that neither his party nor he had instructed anyone not to contribute. The UDF plans to present an itemized restoration plan to the public authority and desire the public authority to execute the advance notice systems and inclined region planning requested by the resistance beginning around 2021. “People shouldn’t be lost even if there is another disaster,” Satheesan stated.
In addition, Satheesan emphasized the need for complete transparency regarding the utilization of the fund. Satheesan said that the government had used some of the money that was collected for flood relief in 2019 for other things, and that the government had avoided questions about how the CMDRF was used in the Assembly. He expressed that the Congress-drove Joined Vote based Front (UDF) would guarantee public responsibility for the CMDRF.
According to Satheesan, any funds given to Wayanad should only be used for Wayanad, and the purposes for which the money is used should be made clear. Satheesan said that he doesn’t want to stir up a political debate.
“Even the assembly’s questions about how to use the relief fund have not received a clear response. That’s why we asked for clarification. We are not implying that, like in Ernakulam, fraud and embezzlement will occur everywhere. Like this, there may have been isolated incidents. And why was a case brought against the person who said he would build two houses rather than contribute to the Chief Minister’s relief fund? It’s everybody’s decision. The UDF MLAs chose to give one month’s compensation with the comprehension that it will be utilized for a noble end goal. Satheesan said, “The government should make sure that this doesn’t happen again like it did last time.”
