The Comptroller and Auditor General has reported poor financial management of emergency relief funds in Maharashtra, with compensation being doled out without proper identification of affected persons. It also criticises the government's flood-preparedness and slack monitoring of rehabilitation efforts

Millions in emergency relief for flood victims in Maharashtra were miss-spent, says a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on flood control and relief measures in the state in 2005 and 2006. Nearly 43% of relief funds in 2005, and 19% the following year, were spent without proper verification of records. In Mumbai alone, of the Rs 1,200 crore sanctioned for flood relief, following the July 2006 deluge, Rs 700 crore is said to have been wastefully spent.

A classic example of misuse of funds was in Kadegaon taluka, in Sangli district, where farmers received Rs 5.8 crore as compensation for crop loss due to heavy rains. According to standards set by the meteorological department, rainfall above 125 mm in a single day is classified as 'heavy rain' -- Kadegaon town reported only 75 mm of rain, the neighbouring villages only 65 mm.

This is the inevitable scenario in the aftermath of disasters across the country: financial management during the process of relief and rehabilitation is saddled with cases of over-withdrawal and diversion of funds.

The very nature of emergency relief, where money has to be quickly distributed to the affected, leads to slack accounting and, often, the cornering of benefits by the powerful. In Mumbai, for instance, gratuitous relief assistance worth Rs 35.65 crore was given without identification and verification of the beneficiaries. There were also cases of relief assistance worth Rs 16.14 crore being given, both in cash and kind, without proper verification of eligibility.

Similarly, the families of 22 Mumbaikars who died or were reported missing were given Rs 26 lakh as compensation. But the postal department was later unable to locate their addresses!

Across the state, families of the deceased in 10 districts were given Rs 4.39 crore as ex-gratia payment without the norms being observed. On the other hand, 644 families were deprived of benefits to the tune of Rs 6.44 crore in death compensation from the prime minister's relief fund.

Rehana Shaikh, a slum-dweller in Mumbai, lost her husband to the swirling floodwaters in a school in Bandra; he was attempting to rescue a group of stranded schoolchildren. Shaikh's heroism earned his family nothing. Rehana says his name was on the state's list of casualties but she has so far received no compensation, only promises. "We got nothing. The government said we would be compensated. His name was on the list but we still haven't received anything."

Meanwhile, in Andheri's Saki Naka area where a massive landslide claimed several lives, the search for two families that received over Rs 1 lakh each as compensation yielded no results.

In Wadala's Shanti Nagar slum, many say they signed up for relief money of Rs 5,000 per family but didn't receive the entire amount. "There are six people in our family. They gave us Rs 4,000 and then they made me sign and told me to go," says Bindu Sharma. "Those with some contacts got up to Rs 4,000; many got just Rs 2,000. The rest was pocketed by local leaders and collector's staff," says Shyam Maurya, a slum-dweller.

The state denies any charges of corruption and says it just wanted to get the money out to victims. "There are some questions which are technical, and some which are more serious. If there are questions of corruption, we will inquire. We will have to look into this and see whether there were discrepancies on technical grounds or whether there were serious violations," says Patangrao Kadam, Maharashtra's relief minister.

The CAG report was tabled on April 18, 2007. Besides reporting financial irregularities in flood relief, it notes that the state's flood-preparedness is inadequate, so also monitoring of relief and rehabilitation.

Source: www.ndtv.com, July 25, 2007
www.centralchronicle.com, July 22, 2007