Vellappally Natesan guarded, not to confront government

Alappuzha: SNDP  Yogam general secretary Vellappally  Natesan has ruled out any confrontation with the LDF government over the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registering a case on   the micro-finance scheme fraud. He wants reconciliation with the government and has planned to fight the case legally. Mr Natesan still enjoys  majority in the yogam council which has 36 members. 

The yogam says those who were  expelled  from it  were trying to defame it. CPM leader V.S. Achuthanandan had sought a  detailed probe into the misappropriation of '15 crore  from the microfinance scheme.   Mr K.K. Mahesan, chief coordinator of the scheme and  one of the four suspects in the FIR filed by the VACB, says  “we are confident of proving our side in the court of law.”   

The micro-finance scheme was  launched by the yogam after it was allocated Rs 15 crore by the Backward Community Welfare Corporation in 2001.  It  came under the scanner following  beneficiary units  alleging misappropriation of funds.  According to yogam, the allegations propped up during the second phase of implementation of the project in which '5 crore  was distributed.    As many as 39 unions of the yogam have been charged with  diverting the funds for private purposes and levying excess interest.