Alappuzha: SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan has ruled out any confrontation with the LDF government over the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registering a case on the micro-finance scheme fraud. He wants reconciliation with the government and has planned to fight the case legally. Mr Natesan still enjoys majority in the yogam council which has 36 members.
The yogam says those who were expelled from it were trying to defame it. CPM leader V.S. Achuthanandan had sought a detailed probe into the misappropriation of '15 crore from the microfinance scheme. Mr K.K. Mahesan, chief coordinator of the scheme and one of the four suspects in the FIR filed by the VACB, says “we are confident of proving our side in the court of law.”
The micro-finance scheme was launched by the yogam after it was allocated Rs 15 crore by the Backward Community Welfare Corporation in 2001. It came under the scanner following beneficiary units alleging misappropriation of funds. According to yogam, the allegations propped up during the second phase of implementation of the project in which '5 crore was distributed. As many as 39 unions of the yogam have been charged with diverting the funds for private purposes and levying excess interest.
