Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac on Sunday took to Facebook to condemn the campaign dissuading donations to the chief minister's distress relief fund.
He pointed out that the money contributed to the CMDRF cannot be used for any work other than relief measures. It has two components, budgetary allocation and contributions of the people.
One of the highlights of the last year's floods was the tremendous contribution of the people. They donated Rs 4,106 crore till July 20 for flood relief.
"Some posts are coming up on Facebook with propaganda against contributing to the chief minister's relief fund saying that ministers are using this money for their foreign trips and all," it says.
"Money has been earmarked in the budget for foreign trips and to purchase vehicles. There was no need to mix it up. If there was an extravagance or not is a matter that should be discussed separately."
The government had decided to the effect that money received for the Flood Relief should not be used temporarily even for ordinary ways and means of the government, he says.
This amount was deposited in accounts of selected banks. The amount transferred through cheques, drafts, electronic payments, UPI/QR/VPA etc. all were deposited to these accounts.
The only exception to this is the amount raised by the salary challenge from employees. That alone is kept in the treasury as a separate account, said Mr Isaac.
"CMDRF is transparent, and anyone can access it online. Only those who hate Kerala will spread such lies against the misuse of funds," said Mr Isaac.
The CMDRF website shows it had received Rs 4354,97 crore.
The total allotment as on July 14 is Rs 2008.76 crore.
