An RTI query has revealed a coordinated forgery at the Panruti Municipality in Cuddalore District to siphon off the cyclone relief fund meant for those affected by Cyclone Thane.
While documents accessed through the RTI query revealed that several dead beneficiaries had collected the cash assistance released by the government, Panruti MLA of the DMDK, Sivakozhunthu, said that his signature was forged by the fraudsters and his share of the cash relief of `2,500 was taken away.
The opposition MLA gave a petition to the Cuddalore District Collector seeking a probe into the alleged irregularities in the distribution of cyclone relief in Panruti Municipality.
After submitting a petition with documentary evidence to the District Collector, Sivakozhunthu said, “Right from the beginning, we have been saying that there were irregularities in handling of cyclone relief fund here. To prove this, we sought details from the authorities invoking the RTI Act. I was shocked to see the list of beneficiaries. Someone put fake signatures and took away the money. Similarly, we could find many faults in the distribution of relief funds. I have given all the proof to the Collector. We want a probe into this.”
According to the list of beneficiaries in Ward 17 of Panruti Municipality, the cyclone relief was issued to Manavalan, father of CPI district secretary Sekar. Interestingly, Manavalan died in 1983. Sekar said, “In Ward 17 in Panruti, cyclone relief assistance were distributed to three persons who died years ago. My father died in 1983. How could he be given the fund as these papers state? In the same ward, Ramadoss and Radhakrishnan, both deceased, were also given the disbursal.”
Sekar further said, “In Ward 9, almost all the beneficiaries put their thumb prints to get the relief money. Are all the beneficiaries illiterate? We demand the authorities to order a probe into all these irregularities.”
On Monday, the DMK held a demonstration at Kurinjipadi. While addressing the gathering here, former minister MRK Paneerselvam said, “The district administration should put the entire details regarding the usage of the cyclone relief fund on the Internet. Many complaints have been coming up about spending of the relief funds.”
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