Cuttack: Allegations of large-scale irregularities in the construction of houses in rural areas under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) have come to fore in the district.
It is suspected that many beneficiaries have pocketed funds under the PMAY and BPGY without constructing the houses sanctioned in their names.
The state government has opened a digital directory for displaying detailed information on the beneficiaries of the two rural housing schemes. The officials concerned have been asked to upload necessary data on beneficiaries to a special portal at the directory for reference of common people.
As per the existing guidelines, officials have been told to upload photos of the beneficiaries and various stages of construction of houses to the portal.
The guidelines also mandated that detailed information about every such housing project, including name of the scheme, name of the beneficiary, his or her address and amount of money sanctioned, should be written on the house wall.
According to the guidelines, Gram Rozgar Sevaks (GRSs) and Village-Level Workers (VLWs) would take photos of the beneficiaries in the backdrop of the newly-constructed houses and upload them to the portal.
According to sources, many beneficiaries in the district have availed funds under the two rural housing schemes by uploading wrong photos to the portal.
As many as 86, 607 beneficiaries from the district have uploaded their photos to the portal for the current financial year till December 17, said sources in the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA).
It is learnt that the DRDA has raised objections over as many as 29, 235 photos for the current fiscal. “We are suspecting that many beneficiaries have uploaded forged photos to the portal. They might have pocketed the funds without constructing houses. Some government officials might have been involved in the irregularities,” said a source.
DRDA sources said as many as 4,270 wrong photos have been submitted by beneficiaries from Banki block while the figure was 1,493 in Barang block; 2,602 in Athagarh; 1,773 in Tangi-Choudwar; 3,255 in Mahanga; 1,657 in Nischintakoili; and 1,251 in Tigiria.
Similarly, as many as 2,327 wrong photos have been found from Salipur block while the number was 1,163 from Baramba; 3,776 from Niali; 1,712 from Dampada; 989 from Cuttack Sadar; 451 from Kantapara and 2,516 from Narasinghapur block.
“We had detected 29, 235 wrong photos under the two housing schemes for the current fiscal. On being informed, officials have collected 19,213 photos afresh. Steps are being taken to bring fresh photos for the remaining 10,022 houses,” said DRDA Project Director Sarojkanta Mohanty.