The Kerala Assembly witnessed a minor uproar and an Opposition walkout on Tuesday over alleged delay in the rehabilitation of tsunami victims.
The Opposition, which sought adjournment of the proceedings to discuss the issue, accused the government of having failed to touch even the half-way mark in construction of houses and took it to task for having violated the relevant norms by providing houses to families that had lost their homes in a major fire at Anchuthengu near here in 2006.
Reminding the government about the vigilance investigation it had initiated four years ago alleging diversion of funds by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, the Opposition wanted to know what explanation it had for the manner in which houses were provided to families that were not eligible for it under the tsunami rehabilitation package.
Rebutting the Opposition charges, Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran said the tsunami rehabilitation package had got bogged down in paucity of land and litigation at several places. In at least a few instances, the government had fought cases even up to the Supreme Court. Despite all odds, the government had handed over keys of 4,657 houses out of the 11,000 houses that were targeted to be built under the tsunami rehabilitation package. The remaining houses were in different stages of construction and they would be handed over latest by November 30, he said.
Seeking leave for the motion, P.C. George (KC-M) said the delay in handing over the full complement of houses proposed to be built under the rehabilitation package only meant that the funds earmarked for the purpose had been diverted. Even out of the 4,657 houses that had been handed over, many had developed leaks.
Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy wanted to know what had happened to the vigilance investigation that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had ordered alleging that he as Chief Minister in the last UDF government had diverted tsunami funds to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for distribution in his areas of influence. When he was the Chief Minister, Rs.4.31 crore had been distributed among the poor from the CMDRF which was not more than what was given earlier from the fund. The Opposition, he said, had nothing against houses being given to the fire victims of Anchuthengu, but it should be done using government funds and not funds received from the Centre for rehabilitating the tsunami victims, he said.
The Opposition Leader's attack drew a sharp response from members of the treasury benches, particularly Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who alleged that Mr. Chandy had, as Chief Minister, diverted the tsunami funds despite a decision to the contrary at an all-party meeting held at the time. When the other Opposition members also joined the shouting match, the House was drowned in a din for sometime. In between, the Revenue Minister informed the House that despite all the delays, Kerala was ahead of all other States and even Centrally-administered Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the rehabilitation of tsunami victims.
