The ruling CPM in Kerala is rattled after a couple of its members were found to be involved in stealing from the money meant for the flood-affected in the state. While an investigation revealed that the scamsters, including a government official and two CPM local committee members in Ernakulam district, surreptitiously diverted at least Rs 27 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund to their own accounts, it’s said there could be more to the whole saga than what has been exposed so far. Given how thousands of people affected by the 2018 deluge are still waiting for their much-deserved compensation, the disclosure that its own people have been embezzling flood relief should come as a huge embarrassment to the CPM.
In fact, the fraud is not just on the flood-hit, but also on those who contributed to the fund in the hope that their hard-earned money would be used to rebuild lives destroyed by floods and landslides. Help, in the form of money and materials, poured in generously when Kerala was battling its worst-ever natural disaster and even after. But unfortunately, the state government did not exactly set an example while handling the contributions. Many of the affected did not get anything beyond the initial meagre compensation, and the reconstruction process dragged on, leading to allegations of mismanagement.
Not that the government had enough to fully reconstruct whatever was damaged and compensate people. Severe flooding and landslides exactly a year later only added to its misery. But that’s no excuse to allow pilferage of money while those who should have got it continue to suffer. While the government was engaged in reconstruction efforts, it is shocking how it failed to put in place a foolproof system to manage the funds it had. With the episode eroding its credibility, the government should leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the scam and exposing all those involved, irrespective of their political affiliation. It must also conduct a thorough investigation to check if such scams are being perpetrated elsewhere.