Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Government anti-poor, says Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy has challenged Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan with documents to disprove the latter’s contention that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has not denied assistance to the poor from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF).

In a statement here on Friday, Mr. Chandy termed the Chief Minister’s statement as “cruel”.

He said there were clear norms for distribution of assistance from the CMRF. The previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government had processed 52,000 applications for assistance.

The UDF government had taken a pro-poor position, trying to reach out to the poorest of the poor utilising the CMRF. The LDF government refused to take up the commitment and was making all out attempts to torment these sections, he said.

The Chief Minister had also gone back on his statement in the Assembly in September 2006 that the distribution of assistance had been deferred owing to paucity of funds and it would be resumed in accordance with the availability of funds.

Similarly, the then Additional Chief Secretary John Mathai had issued orders to District Collectors not to distribute assistance to applications that were sanctioned by the previous government.

Mr. Chandy alleged that conscious attempts were being made to conceal information about the utilisation of funds from the CMRF.

He said he had constantly pointed out that several genuine applicants had to suffer because of the LDF government’s stand.

He said on February 18, he had distributed Rs.50,000 each to the dependents of four Idukki natives who were killed when a well caved in May 2006.

Since it was election time, the UDF government did not take a decision to extend assistance. The LDF government extended only Rs.5,000 as assistance, he said.

The Opposition Leader reiterated he would take the initiative to help the family of Praful, who died after falling into a bore well in Kasaragod.

The UDF government had released Rs.3 lakh for purchasing land for the construction of a house. The district administration had failed to locate land for this purpose, he said.

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