Kerala has appointed in former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai as chairman of the Fund Trustee and Advisory Commission (FTAC) to ensure that the funds of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) are properly utilised and the interest of investors is protected.
- The maiden board meeting of the reconstituted KIIFB under the Chief Minister and Chairman of the board, Pinarayi Vijayan, also decided to appoint Usha Thorat, former Deputy Governor, RBI, and Prakash Bakshi, former chairman of NABARD, as the other members of the FTAC.
- The FTAC will have a two-year term and the members cannot be removed either by the government or the KIIFB.
- They will be removed from the FTAC if they are convicted for misbehaviour and corruption. Vice-chairman, KIIFB, and Finance Minister T. M. Thomas Isaac said the report of the commission would be tabled in the Assembly.
- For this task, the commission members will have access to the projects being implemented with KIIFB funds to the projects for online monitoring of the implementation of the projects and the use of the funds.
- Mr. Rai, a former IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, had also been Principal Secretary, Finance, before going on deputation to the Union government.
- Mr. Rai was associated with Kerala later as he was tasked by the Supreme Court to audit properties of Sree Padmanabhaswami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
