The Kerala government, already grappling with the aftermath of multiple landslides in Wayanad, is fighting a battle of a different kind as some people are carrying out a cyber campaign against the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).
In a repeat of the propaganda carried out during the 2018 floods, the cyber campaign has been targeting the alleged misappropriation of the fund. The government and the Opposition Congress have come out unitedly against such propaganda.
The leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, was also dragged into the campaign with the circulation of a fake message attributed to him. Satheesan’s office lodged a complaint with the state police chief seeking stringent action against such fake messages.
The Kerala police have so far registered 14 FIRs against those spreading falsities about the fund that is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and comes under the Right to Information Act for anyone to check.
The owner of Marunadan Malayali, a YouTube channel, is among those booked under various provisions of the Disaster Management Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for allegedly circulating false information about the CMDRF and how the fund is utilised.
Soon after Vijayan shared the QR code for the CMDRF on his social media handles, an X user named Koyikodans had shredded it with a comment: “Only he can share a QR code to collect donations when rescue works are still going on.”
A Congress supporter — going by his posts — had also shared several news clips, purportedly establishing misappropriation of the CMDRF.
He is among the 14 booked by the state police. The cyber cell of the state police intensified cyber patrolling looking for perpetrators of such propaganda to discourage potential donors.
Even mainstream news channels other than the CPM’s Kairali News joined the battle against the misinformation being circulated against the CMDRF that is handled by the revenue department.
Vijayan said those who engage in misinformation were of a different mental makeup.
“They belong to a different kind of mental makeup. We don’t need to give them any attention. Such people should be isolated,” said the chief minister, who was the target of the allegations. “The CMDRF is meant to provide relief in this kind of situation. We have already been using it very effectively and that’s why people have been donating,” he said.