Basic facilities lacking in relief camps, says CPI(M) Kerala secretary M.V. Govindan
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan on Tuesday accused the State government of failing to ensure basic facilities at the relief
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan on Tuesday accused the State government of failing to ensure basic facilities at the relief camps which were opened in various districts following the floods. Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, he narrated the experience of visiting a relief camp on the Providence College campus in Kozhikode and said that the residents of various camps across the State have raised complaints. “The people who were housed at the camp said they were just given a large hall to stay. The government did not ensure any articles for daily use for these people who were forced to flee from their homes due to the floods. Many of them have stayed in relief camps in the past and said that such facilities were ensured in previous years.
This is not an isolated situation, but something which is visible in camps across the State. We have had years in which 15 lakh people stayed in relief camps without any complaints, but now the government is unable to manage camps for even 13,000 people,” said Mr. Govindan. He said that the CPI(M) has asked its cadres to support the government’s efforts for flood relief. He alleged that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has failed in coordinating effectively while focussing his energies on inaugurating jewelleries and taking part in banquets. “In a situation like this, the Chief Minister’s responsibility goes beyond making a phone call or two. The Chief Minister’s responses amounted to mocking the flood-affected. In Pulluvila, the daughter of a fish worker who went missing five days ago had questioned the double standards of a Chief Minister using a helicopter to visit his father-in-law while no effective step to rescue a person missing in the sea was taken,” he said.
Refuting the Mr. Satheesan’s allegation that Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan had used a helicopter to travel to a CPI(M) party event when he was the Chief Minister, Mr. Govindan said Mr. Vijayan had used a helicopter to travel from Thrissur, where he was participating in a party event, to urgently meet a Central team that was visiting Thiruvananthapuram in the post-Ockhi cyclone scenario. “Mr. Vijayan travelled in a helicopter that was available at that time in Thrissur. The funds for this was used from the General Administration department. Mr. Satheesan is attempting to mislead the public,” he said. On the suspension of an under secretary of the Local Self-Government department over a letter which aided Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA)- accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor R.
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