After the alleged cash gift of ₹10,000 to councillors during Onam three years back implicating the then chairperson Ajitha Thankappan in a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) case, the United Democratic Front (UDF) ruling the Thrikkakara municipality finds in the middle of another controversy, this time around ‘gift coupons.’
The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has lodged a complaint with VACB accusing the municipal vice-chairman P.M. Yunus of appropriating and distributing among select councillors and officials 50 gift coupons worth ₹5,000 redeemable at a major mall in the city, which he secured from a private sector bank where the municipality maintains a deposit running into a few crores.
“The request for coupons was placed before the bank on the municipal secretary’s letterhead but signed by the vice-chairman. This amounts to cheating. We have asked the bank to take corrective measures failing which we will launch a protest before the bank,” said opposition leader M.K. Chandrababu.
Mr. Yunus, however, dismissed the allegation as an election season stunt. The coupons were meant to be gifted to the councillors after the budget presentation, which is a usual practice in local bodies. However, the budget presentation on February 11 was mired in controversy since the finance committee had not approved the budget estimates and the secretary also tabled a budget. Since the budget wasn’t passed that day, it was improper to distribute the gift coupons, he said.
“Around 18 councillors have received the coupons and the rest are with me. If I had to appropriate them I could have done it long back. A decision on what to do with the coupons or to return them to the bank is yet to be taken,” said Mr. Yunus.
However, municipal chairperson Radhamani Pillai has distanced herself from the controversy claiming that she wasn’t privy to the vice-chairman’s decision to secure gift coupons from the bank. “I have brought the matter before the UDF district leadership. The bank has also been asked to take action. Besides, the secretary has been asked to serve memos to officials, if any, involved in the matter, with a direction to give an explanation in five days,” she said.
Mr. Yunus, however, shot down Ms. Pillai’s claim insisting that she indeed was privy to the decision to source gift coupons from the bank for distribution among the councillors.