Kolkata: In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Home Department has asked the state treasury to transfer Rs10 million to Chief Minister’s relief Fund.
As per norm, the Chief Minister’s Relief fund is made up of donations from the ordinary people and organizations that generally donated such sums for the larger welfare of the people especially during natural calamities. Such money is used for relief work during calamities and the rest is used to support the needy in case of medical and educational exigencies throughout the year at the discretion of the Chief Minister.
However, transferring tax payers’ money into such relief fund is not only an exceptional event, but also has raised questions as to the proper usage of public money.
The order from the state department has come at a time when Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had lamented that there are no more funds available in her relief fund. On March 2, Banerjee, while distributing cheques to farmers from her relief fund, said: “all money in my relief fund has been completely exhausted. I am worried that god forbids if something untoward happens tomorrow what I will be able to do immediately for supporting the people affected.” Incidently, the state Home department is directly under the Chief Minister’s supervision.
Sections of officials have certainly questioned the move whether it’s legal to transfer tax payers’ money into any adhoc relief funds and whether such orders have directly violated the law. As per senior officials of the state finance department, “there is no clause that forbids transfer of funds from the treasury to the Chief Minister’s relief fund. Since Chief Minister is the head of the government, transferring money from one department to another is not unlawful. But, it’s true that it has never happened before,” said a senior officer.
