Rs 262 crore transferred from CM relief fund: CAG report confirms earlier allegations, says BJP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP state president and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday alleged that the latest Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has exposed financial irregularities in the Wayanad rehabilitation process, including the transfer of Rs 262 crore from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) to the Consolidated Fund.

Claiming that the move reflected serious lapses in financial management, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the BJP had raised concerns about the alleged diversion of relief funds earlier as well.

“The BJP had already pointed out that crores collected for the relief fund were being diverted and used for other purposes. The latest CAG report has proved that our allegations were correct,” Chandrasekhar said.

He alleged that transferring Rs 262.06 crore from the CMDRF, which is intended to provide immediate assistance to disaster victims and people in distress, amounted to a “serious breach of public trust.”

“Money collected for helping disaster victims was used to present a better financial picture of the government. This is a serious issue that requires a detailed examination,” he said.

According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the CAG findings were among the strongest examples of what he described as the financial mismanagement and wasteful spending of the Pinarayi Vijayan government. He alleged that the state’s financial condition had deteriorated over the past decade due to poor management.

“A comprehensive and transparent investigation must be conducted to find where the transferred amount was spent, which departments handled the funds, and who made the decisions,” he said.

He also alleged that the Left government had misled the Legislative Assembly and the public by hiding the actual financial situation and manipulating figures over the past ten years.

“Misusing the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund to cover up financial failures is a challenge to democratic institutions,” he said.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar urged Chief Minister V D Satheesan to take action against those responsible and make all details public.