Chief Minister’s Relief Fund neglected Telangana, Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Three months after the bifurcation of the state, the governments in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh have failed to revive the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, considered to be a boon for poor and needy families to get financial assistance for emergency medical treatment. Thousands of CMRF applications have been lying pending for over five months in both the Secretariat.

Earlier, CMs in the undivided state had sanctioned amounts ranging up to Rs 2 lakh, depending on the ailment of the beneficiary.

The sanctions have been stopped after President’s Rule was imposed in March this year following resignation of former CM N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. No initiative has been taken to clear either the pending applications or process new applications in both the states. The government used to disburse nearly Rs 20 crore every year to beneficiaries. The staff in both the Chief Ministers Offices cannot clarify whether the CMRF exists or not at present. Hundreds of old and new applicants approaching the CMOs for financial assistance every week are being sent back empty handed.

Also, no one knows the fate of thousands of applications approved by the previous Congress government till March. Nearly 6,000 applications were pending with the CMO when Mr Reddy stepped down as CM. Later, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, during President’s Rule, constituted a committee to process and approve the applications. But not a single application was cleared. Though the formation of new governments in June brought a ray of hope for applicants, all their hopes were dashed with both the CMs hardly taking any steps for the purpose even after three months.

Officials in both the CMOs remain tight-lipped on the issue and refuse to comment saying that it’s up to the CMs to take a decision over when to revive the disbursal of funds under CMRF. The applications were forwarded to the respective CMOs based on the residence of the applicants. However, the CMOs have been rejecting them without citing any reason. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy had created a record by sanctioning funds amounting to Rs 180 crore under CMRF to over 30,000 poor and needy families during his three-year stint as CM, which was a record of sorts. Beneficiaries under CMRF increased manifold during the YSR regime when the number crossed 1 lakh between 2004 and 2009 against just 12,175 between 2000 and 2004 during the TDP regime.