Life Mission: Kerala took foreign aid without central approval

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre has reportedly clarified that the state should have taken its permission while entering into an agreement with a foreign organisation or agency for availing financial aid for Life Mission.
Vikas Swarup, secretary (west) in ministry of external affairs, is learnt to have told members of a parliamentary committee on Thursday that the central permission was mandatory and the state had not sought it.
MPs N K Premachandran and Alphons Kannanthanam had raised the subject in the committee meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday during a discussion on India and international laws. Sanjay Kumar Mishra, director of Enforcement Directorate (ED), is also learnt to have attended the committee meeting.
The state government has also confirmed that it took the financial assistance without permission from the Centre. In his letter to the ED, chief secretary Vishwas Mehta said the state had accepted Rs 20 crore from the NGO for the apartment complex and hospital being constructed at Wadakkancherry in Thrissur under the Life Mission project without taking clearance from the Centre.
The ED -- probing the gold smuggling case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 --had earlier sought copies of the MoU signed between the Life Mission and the NGO, minutes of meetings held in this regard and documents related to the tender, if any.
Centre seeks clarification on clearances
The agency is following the money trail after Rs1crore was recovered from the banklocker of Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the case. It was statedthatthe money was partof a kickback she received in the Life Mission deal with the UAE Red Crescent Authority.
As per the MoU signed between Mohamed Ateeq Al Falahi of the UAE Red Crescent Authority and the Life Mission CEO on July 11, 2019, the NGO had pledged one crore Arab Emirates Dirhams (AED) -- approximately Rs 20.37 crore -- for an apartment project under the Life Mission at Wadakkancherry. Of this, 70 lakh AED (Rs 14.26 crore)willbespentfor constructing houses for flood victims and the remaining 30 lakh AED (Rs 6.11crore)for a healthcentre.
Official sources said the Centre had also sought some clarifications regarding the mandatory clearance required from the ministries of external affairs and home affairs to accept aid from a foreign agency and the state government would give a reply soon.