THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Dr Thomas Isaac came to the fore criticising the propaganda not to donate to the chief minister’s relief fund. In a Facebook post, he asked not to believe the false propaganda circulating in social media asking not to donate as money from the relief funds is spent for other purposes.

The money coming to chief minister's relief fund cannot be used for anything other than relief measures. There are two components for the relief fund. One is the budgetary allocation from the government and the second is the contributions of the people. One of the most significant features of the past flood experience is the tremendous contribution of the people. They donated Rs 4106 crore till 20/07/2019 for flood relief.

Excerpts from the post
Some posts are popping up, urging people not to contribute to the chief minister’s relief fund. The posts show that this money is being used by ministers for their foreign trips and all. Money has been earmarked in the budget for foreign trips and to purchase vehicles. Don't mix it up and it should be discussed separately.

The money coming to the chief minister's relief scheme cannot be used for anything other than relief measures. There are two components for the relief fund. One is the budgetary allocation from the government and the second is the contributions from the people. One of the most significant features of the past flood experience is the tremendous contribution of the people. They donated Rs 4106 crore till 20/07/2019 for flood relief.

The government made a special decision as it was determined that the money received for the Flood Relief was not to be used temporarily even by ordinary government’s ways and means. According to that, this amount was deposited in accounts of selected banks. The amount transferred through check, draft, electronic payments, UPI/QR/VPA etc goes to these accounts. The only exception to this is the amount raised by the salary challenge from employees. That alone is kept in the treasury as a separate account..