Bhubaneswar: A team of senior officials from Union Ministry of Rural Development, which visited Odisha in February to inquire about the allegations of irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) scheme, observed several instances of indiscretion.
In a letter to the state Chief Secretary, the Union Rural Development Secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha stated that the Central team observed several irregularities during its visit to Odisha and found that PMAY-G logo was missing from houses constructed under the scheme, lack of quality in construction of houses and houses that were shown as completed on AwaasSoft were found to be incomplete during the inspection.
According to the letter, the Central team observed that in some cases houses have been allotted to both father and son. The Union ministry asked the state government to probe such cases and recover the amount released to the beneficiary.
The team, which had visited the state from February 9 to 11, also found that some beneficiaries have started construction of houses on government land.
The secretary asked the state government to allot suitable land to the beneficiaries and if the state government does not agree to this then it should recover the amount released to the beneficiaries.
The team also observed some cases of defalcation. The Union secretary asked the Chief Secretary to file FIRs against the authorities involved in the irregularities.
In another letter to BJP MP Jual Oram, Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the state government has been asked to submit an action taken report to the Union ministry.
The Union minister also said that once they received from the state government the action taken report from the state, they would share it with the BJP MP.
It may be mentioned here that the BJP MPs had earlier submitted a letter to the Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar alleging irregularities in the implementation of PMAYG scheme.
PNN
