Alleging a ‘vote bank’ ploy in the flood-relief, the Congress party on Wednesday in a 11-point questionnaire demanded the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to explain why the corporation used TRS agents to distribute the relief money and why cash was used instead of cheques. The Congress alleged that the public money was used by the TRS government for their party propaganda for the upcoming GHMC elections.
They said that the TRS government indulged in “arbitrary” cash distribution, not to all the victims, but as per their “whims and fancies”.
In a series of questions, the party asked what were the guidelines framed to distribute compensation, why did the government distribute cash instead of cheques-- which is a usual routine, which law permitted the corporation to handover the cash to be distributed to the TRS booth agents, among others. The party asked if there was any accountability in the distribution.
Alleging that the corporation did not distribute the relief amount with any scientific basis, the Congress asked how the corporation identified the 3.9 lakh victims.
While the Telangana government has claimed that they have already distributed Rs 380 crore out of the Rs 550 crore to the flood victims, the Congress has demanded a division wise list of the beneficiaries to be provided. The party also asked the corporation to furnish the list of deceased and the compensation provided to them.
As per the flood relief rehabilitation, the government is providing Rs 10,000 per family, Rs 1 lakh for a fully destroyed house and Rs 50,000 for a partially destroyed house.
Several allegations have cropped regarding the flood-relief money distribution. The Congress in its letter said that the TRS ward incharges paid only Rs 2,000-3,000 to some victims and around Rs 5,000 to some. “They behaved like vultures and indulged in massive corruption taking commissions even from the flood victims. Almost all residential tenants were cruelly exempted from the flood relief assistance,” the Congress alleged.
Demanding the GHMC to respond to the questions raised, they asked the government to increase the compensation. The party demanded Rs 50,000 to each family including residential tenants, Rs 5 lakh for a fully destroyed house, Rs 2.5 lakh for a partially destroyed house and Rs 25 lakh each for the deceased. They also asked for an all-party meeting to discuss the reasons for the devastation.