Thiruvananthapuram:
As the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau (VACB) stepped up its investigation to unearth irregularities in disbursal of the Kerala CM’s disaster relief fund, the slugfest between the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) and opposition Congress intensified on Sunday.
It began after CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said opposition leader V D Satheesan and Congress MP Adoor Prakash also recommended many cases for help and all such cases will come under the ambit of ongoing investigation. He said distribution of relief under earlier governments should also come under lens.
For the cornered government some cases from the opposition gave it the much-needed breather. But the Congress shot back saying the ruling party was just searching for “lame excuses” and trying to cover up the incident after the role of many local party activists came to light.
Code-named “Operation CMDRF”, the VACB had started a statewide investigation into the distribution of CM’s relief fund a couple of days back that opened a can of worms. Serious irregularities and bogus claims to swindle large amount of money came to light pointing fingers at a nexus between government officials, local leaders and doctors.
“The CM had ordered a probe after some irregularities came to his notice. People from all parties recommended some cases. List shows opposition leader V D Satheesan and party MP Adoor Prakash had also forwarded some applications for help”, said Govindan in Kozhikode (north Kerala) adding it was unfair to blame only the government.
But Satheesan said the government was doing enough research after the ruling party workers’ nexus in the swindle got exposed. He said he recommended the case of a patient whose both kidneys failed and his annual income was less than 2 lakh. “Let the government probe this case also. After its face turned pale, now the party is searching for scapegoats. Many days passed since the shocking details surfaced but not a single case was registered so far. We fear the probe will be confined to some junior-level officials only,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said recent disclosures were shocking and sought a judicial inquiry. “Details emerged so far show more than ₹20 crore was embezzled and amount can go up considerably. Hectic efforts are on to hush it up. We seek a judicial inquiry,” said party state president K Surendran in Kasaragod (north Kerala) on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a right to information activist Govindan Namboodiri said he tried to file RTI several times to get details of fund disbursed but he was discouraged by officials. “I sought details since 2016 and I was told bluntly that there was no auditing and account keeping. It seems fraudsters made use of these loopholes,” he said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday warned that those who swindled public money will not lead a comfortable life.
As VACB intensified its probe many irregularities came to light. In Kollam district ₹four lakh was given to an applicant whose house was “severely damaged” in a natural disaster but officials found his house was in good condition. Similarly in Alapuzha district, a doctor issued certificates to 10 applicants and these certificates were issued on a single day last year. In 70 applications for relief In Idukki, VACB found applicants’ phone number was same. In Palakkad district, out of 78 applications, an Ayurveda doctor had issued certificates to 54 applicants last year. And some of these applicants include cancer and kidney patients, showed VACB records.