Bommai’s letter raises questions on flood relief

Lending credence to allegations of irregularities in flood relief, a letter written by Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has come to light seeking a probe into the anomalies.

While the minister highlighted irregularities in Haveri district, there are allegations that such irregularities were prevalent in all flood-hit districts. DH had reported about irregularities in providing flood relief in the past.

According to the letter, crop relief announced to farmers affected by the devastating floods was yet to be distributed to many affected farmers. “The crop relief of Rs 174.46 cr was distributed to only 1,00,768 farmers, while many other farmers are in dire straits as relief was not provided to them. Since there are complaints of irregularities in sanctioning relief to farmers, action should be initiated against officials responsible,” the letter dated January 13, read.

The letter was addressed to Amlan Aditya Biswas, Regional Commissioner, Belagavi, who directed officials concerned to probe the alleged irregularities and submit a report.

It can be recalled that various farmer organisations had alleged widespread irregularities in providing crop loss compensation. They had claimed that relief was distributed according to whims and fancies of officials and many flood-affected farmers did not feature in the list of victims.