Kerala CM Denies Misuse of Relief Funds Amid Media Allegations

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticized media outlets for falsely reporting exorbitant expenditure on Wayanad landslide relief. Both BJP and IUML accused the state government of corruption. However, Vijayan clarified that the submitted memorandum detailed expected expenses, not actual spending, and urged the media to correct the reports.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday criticized a segment of the media for allegedly misreporting that a large sum of money was spent on relief measures for the Wayanad landslides.

Earlier in the day, media reports citing a Kerala High Court order on the Wayanad landslide claimed excessive expenditures on disaster relief. The BJP and UDF constituent IUML targeted the state government, accusing the Left administration of corruption.

The BJP alleged that crores of rupees were misused by the Left government for volunteer expenses. IUML raised similar charges. However, the Chief Minister's Office refuted these claims, labeling the reports as 'baseless' and clarified that the mentioned amounts were anticipated expenses outlined in a memorandum submitted to the union government.

The CM asserted that the memorandum followed State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms for assessing response and relief measures and was falsely being portrayed by the media as actual expenditure. Vijayan claimed this was an attempt to undermine the state government's efforts to obtain central assistance and urged the media to rectify the 'false report.'

(With inputs from agencies.)