A total of Rs 772.38 crore, part of the Rs 4,912.45 crore amassed in 2018 and 2019 for the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) through initiatives like salary challenges, remains unspent, as per CMDRF portal data. Flood relief saw an expenditure of only Rs 4,140.07. In a comparison between the mass contact programs of the Opposition UDF and the ongoing Nava Kerala Sadas by the ruling LDF, the CPM countered that more CMDRF funds were spent during the LDF’s term. The Oommen Chandy Government, in five years, disbursed only Rs 808.78 crore from the relief fund over three mass contact programs. In contrast, the two Pinarayi governments, over seven-and-a-half years, claimed to have spent Rs 7,633 crore.
During the Pinarayi Government’s tenure, Rs 5,744.89 crore was donated to the CMDRF during the COVID-19 pandemic and floods. Of this, Rs 5,081.14 crore was allocated for those purposes, according to CMDRF portal data. If the CPM’s assertion of spending Rs 7,633 crore is accepted, then Rs 2,551.86 crore was utilized for non-COVID-19 and non-flood purposes.
The CPM stated that Rs 1,917.33 crore was disbursed during the second Pinarayi Government’s tenure. Consequently, during the first Pinarayi Government, only Rs 634.53 crore was spent outside COVID-19 and flood relief. Notably, the state disaster relief fund was transferred to the CMDRF during COVID-19 and floods, as per available data.
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