The Kerala state government has issued a warning to Wayanad district collector D R Meghashree regarding potential personal liability for delays in distributing landslide relief funds to affected families. However, official records indicate that treasury restrictions and end-of-financial-year fund lapses within the government system itself substantially contributed to the delays now attributed to the district administration.
Documents accessed by the Times of India reveal that the disaster management department sent a strongly worded letter to the collector following a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary A Jayathilak. In the letter issued on May 13, additional secretary Bindu C Varghese sought explanations from the collector over delays in implementing the government's decision to take over loan liabilities of disaster-affected families.
The letter questioned why clarifications were being sought on the same criteria and beneficiary details that were originally proposed by the district itself and formed the basis for cabinet approval. It further asked why the amount released by the government had not been disbursed to banks even five months after the government order was issued on January 29.
The communication stated that the delay had resulted in additional interest liability on loans availed by beneficiaries and warned that the resulting financial burden to the state could be fixed as the personal liability of the officers concerned. However, other official records accessed by the Times of India indicate that procedural and treasury-related issues within the system itself had significantly contributed to the delay now being questioned.
The digital file tracking system of the Secretariat, accessible to the public, shows that the file under reference remained within the disaster management department of the Secretariat itself, moving back and forth between sections from March 15 till May 6.
Additionally, a government order issued on April 17 by secretary (disaster management) K Biju acknowledged that an earlier allocation sanctioned for livelihood assistance to Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslide victims had lapsed with the close of the financial year because the amount could not be transferred to the relevant account in time.
The order recorded that although Rs 6 crore had originally been sanctioned for livelihood assistance, including Rs 3.19 crore for the April-June 2026 period, the amount could not be transferred to the Wayanad collector's account before the close of the financial year, resulting in the fund lapsing automatically. The government subsequently sanctioned a fresh allocation of Rs 3.19 crore to continue livelihood assistance for disaster victims.
In another communication dated April 18, also signed by secretary Biju, the government informed the Wayanad collector that treasury restrictions linked to year-end financial closing had affected the transfer of funds. The letter directed that the amount be transferred immediately once treasury procedures were normalized.
The file trail has now triggered discussion within bureaucratic circles over whether field-level officers are being unfairly blamed for delays arising from systemic financial and procedural bottlenecks acknowledged in the government's own records.
About the Author: KP Sai Kiran is an Assistant Editor with The Times of India, based in the Thiruvananthapuram bureau, where he has been working since 2011. Over the years, he has reported from New Delhi and Kerala, covering subjects ranging from crime and courts to governance and public policy.
