Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP members in the Assembly Wednesday staged a walkout accusing the BJD government of hijacking the PMAY and using its logo for publicity and vote bank.
The BJP members alleged that there is no transparency in the selection of beneficiaries and the houses are being allocated on partisan manners in clear violation of guidelines.
They demanded video recording of the entire process and the list of beneficiaries be uploaded in the website Panchayat wise.
Participating in the debate on the admissibility of an adjournment motion, BJP members Mohan Majhi, Mukesh Mahalingam and Bhaskar Madhei criticised the government for trying to convert the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) into Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) for vote bank.
Mahalingam demanded to constitute a committee to look into the complaints and irregularities in the scheme and objected to the use of BPGY logo in the PMAY.
Replying to the allegation, Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena said at no point of time Odisha government has attempted to convert PMAY into BPGY.
He said the government launched the BPGY as the fund provided by the central government was not sufficient to provide house to the poor and needy.
While the Centre is providing 60 per cent of the fund, the state is contributing 40 per cent for the housing scheme.
This apart, the state government, Jena said is providing incentives for the early completion of houses under the scheme.
He said the state has spent Rs 628.48 crore to provide incentives to 3,69,515 PMAY and BPGY beneficiaries adding that if the incentive amount is taken into consideration the Centre and state ratio would be 56:44.
The minister said in West Bengal the PMAY has been renamed as Bangla Awas Yojana.
In Sikkim and Tamil Nadu the photo of the Chief Minister is being pasted on the doors of each PMAY house.
He, however, said the government has directed the field officials to put BPGY logo along with the PMAY(G) in each PMAY(G) house.
Jena said there is nothing wrong in putting the BPGY logo as the state is also spending money for implementation of the scheme.
The Centre, he said, has provided Rs 9904.4 crore under the PMAY(G) from 2016-17 to 2019-20, and the state government has contributed Rs.6600.27 crore during the period.
Treasury bench members Ashwini Patra, Ramesh Sai, Dhruba Charan Sahu and Prafulla Samal demanded the government to allot 300 to 500 houses in each constituency to provide houses to the poor who are not included in the SEBC data list.
They also justified the use of BPGY logo by the government in the scheme.