Kerala - Alappuzha   

White paper on tsunami relief funds demanded

SEEKING RELIEF: Members of the fishermen community during a Collectorate march taken out by the Matsya Thozhilali Congress in Alappuzha on Wednesday.

ALAPPUZHA: Senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran has demanded that the State government release a white paper on the utilisation of funds released by the Centre for rehabilitation of the tsunami-affected fishing community.

Inaugurating a Collectorate march taken out by the Matsya Thozhilali Congress here on Wednesday, Mr. Sudheeran said there was no clarity on how the Rs.1,441.75 crore released by the Centre was utilised. The V.S. Achuthanandan-led State government had miserably failed to uplift the fisheries sector, which was hit hard by the tsunami.

Though the State had announced several projects that were touted to be aimed at helping the fishing community and the coastal regions, not a single project had so far been completed. Instead, announcements of more projects were continuing, Mr. Sudheeran said, citing the controversies over the tsunami scholarships and the “inordinately” delayed construction of houses for the tsunami-affected.

There were covert attempts from within the Left Democratic Front to turn the fisheries sector and the coastal belt into a conflict-ridden region so that the Left could fish in troubled waters, he alleged. District Congress Committee president A.A. Shukoor, Matsya Thozhilali Congress district president M.V. Sambhavan and others also addressed the gathering.

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