The Puducherry unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the alleged torture meted out to the prisoners of Kalapet Central prison following the recentseizure of mobile phones.
Charging that police had allegedly beaten up and tortured the prisoners, CPI state secretary R Viswanathan told reporters that this could not be accepted and it amounted to human rights violation. Viswanathan said this was not the first time cell phones were recovered from the prison. He demanded that the top authorities explain how the inmates were able to get access to the cell phones.
A top official claimed that police were called in to assist the warders following clash between prisoners demanding home-made food. Twenty four mobile phones were seized following a search after the incident.
Meanwhile, the CPI leader urged the State government to give an option to the aged people to receive their Old Age Pension either through the banks or anganwadi centres. He also asked the State to formulate a scheme including subsidy and loan, and submit it to the Central government to ensure the functioning of the textile mills in the union territory.
Citing that the new academic year is round the corner, he urged the State to hold discussions with the private engineering and medical colleges to get the number of seats allotted under the Centralised Admission Scheme (CENTAC).
Explain Fund Flow: Narayanasamy Told
After the CBI started investigating into the Rural Welfare Scheme fraud, CPI State secretary R Viswanathan asked Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office V Narayanasamy to explain the alleged allocation of nearly `3 crore to an unregistered organisation by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
The CPI leader alleged that the money was allocated to a private education and training foundation under the Aajeevika scheme (special projects for the placement-linked skill for the youth).
As Narayanasamy represents Puducherry, he urged him to take the responsibility and find out the truth and reveal the details as to who received the money, and who was behind the murky affair.
Viswanathan said the money was allotted to the foundation, which was identified as implementation agency (IA) for the scheme, directly by the MRD and the State government was not kept in the loop for executing such an important scheme.
“How can the Ministry allot money to an unregistered foundation? Narayanasamy has the responsibility to explain it to the people,” he said.
On the illegal sand mining issue,the CPI leader suggested that the government can charge `100 per bullock-cart load from the owners and said the State should issue permit to them. He said this would avoid the exploitation of bullock-cart owners by the intermediaries and would also fetch revenue of around `3 crore per month.