Rs 30 crore tsunami donations unused

[sidmis]

Rs 30 crore tsunami donations unused
as reported by G Babu Jayakumar | ENS | 04 Oct 2008 | ExpressBuzz

CHENNAI: Can you believe that about Rs 30 crore of the Rs 157 crore that came through public contributions to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) during the 2004 tsunami has not been utilised so far? Or, that the CMPRF has locked up Rs 166 crore funds in fixed deposits? In a bid to find out how much of the money that common people — moved by human suffering during natural and other calamities — contribute to the CMPRF actually reach the needy, an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI) was filed by Madhav of the Tamil Nadu Right to Information Campaign, seeking details of the amount received from the public and the amount spent.

And the data he received showed the dismal state of affairs in the spending of the relief funds. The CMPRF had received Rs 157 crore in the year 2004-05, immediately after the tsunami on December 26, 2004. That the CMPRF has received only donations worth Rs 4 crore in 2002-03 and Rs 8.01 crore in 2003-04 goes to prove that the public had contributed generously in 2004-05 only with the hope that the money will help alleviate the suffering of those affected by the tsunami.

But the total amount spent during the four years for tsunami relief is only Rs 126.5 crore.

Besides that, Madhav had asked for details on the fixed deposits that are currently active in relation to the CMPRF and the reply shows that Rs 166 crore worth fixed deposits have been made.

With such huge amounts of the relief fund remaining unutilised, this is what Madhav wants to know: “Would any citizen knowing it really donate anything for the fund?”

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