Ockhi promises not met: Latin Catholic Church

Thiruvananthapuram: Archbishop M Soosa Pakiam  of the Latin Catholic Church has alleged that the state government had  not fulfilled its promise to help the  victims of the Ockhi cyclone. He told reporters here on Saturday that only 49 families had received any assistance so far.  “The state government should learn from Tamil Nadu on how to use disaster management fund for the victims of natural disasters. It has already provided aid to all the victims of the Ockhi tragedy,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu government, which offered Rs 10 lakh each to 177 persons,  has credited the amount to their respective bank accounts.  In contrast, even those who got the amount in Kerala have to queue up in front of treasury offices, he said. A total of 146 people had died and over 300 families were affected by the cyclone in the state, according to the Church.  As per government figures, 52 people were killed and 91 remain missing.  The government had promised houses  for the dependants of the victims, jobs, medical help and many more, the archbishop  said.

The Church leaders had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan several times on the issue.  Every time, the government promised to take steps to redress the grievances.  Recently, the response from the Chief Minister  and others was that the party was busy with conferences.  They have failed miserably to tackle the cyclone victims’ issues,  he added. “The functioning of the Ockhi fund too is under suspicion and the Church has sought a social auditing,” Soosa Pakiam said and  asked the government not to take their silence lightly. He also said the  Supreme Court verdict about the reopening of bars was bewildering. The state government’s decision to reopen the bars was prompted by vested interests and the need to ensure funding for the ruling party, he alleged.