Poor people face an uphill task

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The V S Achuthanandan Government which  had been benevolent in granting huge amount to the flood victims of Pakistan and to Lok Shakthi Trust of Orissa run by a fellow comrade at the fag end of  the government’s tenure, made a distinction by making the procedure for poor people seeking financial assistance from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) more cumbersome.  The fact that the CMDRF is meant to be distributed among the people facing distress and that it is the poor people who are seeking financial assistance, were apparently not taken into account.There are two procedures in vogue for sanctioning treatment assistance from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. In the first case, the Chief Minister himself sanctions the relief  after seeking a report from the District Collector. In certain other cases,  the District Collector  can sanction the assistance directly.  But as per the latest government orders,  people can submit their requests for  treatment assistance  before the village officer concerned. “The village officer will conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report  to the tahasildar within five days.  The report will be  forwarded  to the Chief Minister’s office via  the District Collector,  along with recommendations of  the tahasildar and the Collector. As per rule, government orders in  the case  will be  issued within three days.” government sources said.    Once the Revenue Department gives approval  for the relief amount,  the  Finance Department will  send a draft to  the District  Collector concerned and the amount will be disbursed  through the tahasildar.  There are hurdles to cross to get the relief amount sanctioned. A village officer will take time to conduct an inquiry and issue recommendations after visiting the patient and assessing his or her eligibility for assistance.  If an officer is corrupt and seeks bribe,  the visit and report will suffer from further delay. The procedure to get the approval of the thasildar causes  further delay. A hapless patient  in dire need of money cannot go to the District Collector’s  office  from a remote village  to ensure that the report is despached to the CM’s office in time. Not to speak of the possible delay in the Chief Minister’s office.  Even if the amount is  sanctioned,  the  paltry amount  will not be enough to meet the expenses for getting it sanctioned.