A three-member central team this morning visited villages in Kaliachak in Malda to investigate the distribution of houses under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY). The team visited houses of several people in Charianantapur and Kamarpur villages of Kaliachak-III block, who have said that they were deprived of the houses under the scheme, despite the fact that they had applied for the same. The officials also talked to the villagers about how long ago the beneficiaries had applied and why they have not yet benefited from the scheme.
Officials of the district administration accompanied the central team, it is learnt. The central team arrived in Malda last night to oversee the implementation of the project, and it included Central Rural Development Department Deputy Secretary Shakti Kant Singh, Assistant Commissioner MS Chahat Singh and Assistant Section Officer Gaurav Ahuja. There have been allegations of malpractice, corruption and irregularities in the housing scheme in various blocks of Malda district.
Villagers have protested the alleged irregularities by blocking roads in several Blocks. Himanshu Roy, an applicant from the Kamarpur area, said, “A central government team came to my house. Even though I am a poor person, I did not benefit from the Awas Yojana scheme. I had informed officials of about the matter. They checked everything in our house.
So far, no work has been done even after informing the Panchayat and Block administrations. I may, however, finally get a house as these central officials have heard of my problems.” Sources said that the visiting team is likely to visit several more blocks in the district. ADM G Vaibhav Chowdhury, who was with the visiting team, was unavailable for comment.