The state government has shifted the distribution of flood relief funds to the taluk level to avoid unnecessary delays. Tahsildars will now take full charge of handing out the money. Earlier, the district collectorates were handling the entire process.
Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has moved the distribution of flood relief funds to the taluk level. The Disaster Management Department issued a new order stating that routing the money through district collectorates is causing delays. To fix this, they have given full charge of the fund distribution to the Tahsildars. The government will first transfer the funds to the District Collectors, and then the Tahsildars will directly send the money to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Earlier, the Disaster Management Department had cleared emergency relief funds for people who suffered losses during this year's monsoon. Families hit by the floodwaters are getting Rs 300 per day for a week. The government is also giving an emergency aid of Rs 10,000 to clean up damaged houses, commercial shops, industrial units, and homestays.
The Land Revenue Commissioner recently pointed out that the massive number of applications is slowing down the distribution process at the District Collector level. Because of this, the Disaster Management Department decided to decentralize the process to the taluks, just like they did during the massive 2018-19 Kerala floods. The new order confirms that once the Collectors get the funds, Tahsildars will take over the actual distribution. The government has also asked C-DIT to quickly make the required changes in the software to support this new system.
