Bhubaneswar: Exposing serious loopholes in the execution of the affordable housing scheme – Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) – under Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the beneficiaries were found to have been minting money by renting out the properties allotted to them for free in the Capital city. According to reports, the illegal activities of about 250 RAY beneficiaries, who have availed the houses by declaring themselves ‘homeless, landless and poor’, have defeated the very purpose of the government housing scheme, prompting the BMC to swing into action and issue notices to the illegal tenants. A civic body team conducted raids at eight places Wednesday and identified around 250 such errant house owners who have rented out their RAY accommodations here.
Moreover, the team found that some of the beneficiaries also own landed properties and houses in other places. The civic body has said that it would take stringent action against the illegal beneficiaries and cancel the allotments. Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das said, “We had received some complaints about renting of some of the affordable houses by a few owners. It was also alleged that some of the RAY beneficiaries, who already have housing and landed properties, have availed houses by submitting fake documents.” Das also said that the BMC had distributed houses as per the list provided by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). Some of the houses were also allotted to the RAY beneficiaries, she added. “BMC officials, in the presence of police, had raided several houses in the City and found that at least 250 houses have been rented out by the RAY beneficiaries. We have issued notices to them and decided to take steps to cancel their licences (possession) if they fail to provide any satisfactory response,” the Mayor said.
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According to sources, the BMC launched a crackdown on illegal housing beneficiaries and conducted raids at eight Awas Complexes – Rangamatia, Mandap Basti, Nilamadhav Basti, Buddha Vihar, Patharabandha, Mahishakhala, Shanti Nagar and Subudhipur. The civic officials reached out to every house owner and asked them to show their identity documents. The team then matched the documents with the list provided by BDA. It was found that some of the RAY beneficiaries were residing in houses allotted to them, but some others have rented out their houses and living in houses they had built by encroaching upon government land. Interestingly, some other beneficiaries were found to have sold out their houses and returned to their villages. Sources said the illegal house owners would visit their properties once in a month to collect the rent.