Puri: Two families of Sikat Nuapada under Brahmagiri block are yet to receive assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) even though their thatched houses were damaged by cyclonic storm Phailin in 2013.
While nine members of Prabhakar Mallick’s family have been residing in a hut for the last five years, the family of Sarbeshwar Mallick is struggling hard to construct a house in the absence of PMAY aid.
The duo raised the issue with collector Aravind Agarwal recently seeking his immediate intervention.
Both Prabhakar and Sarbeshwar have claimed that their names were included in the list of beneficiaries to receive houses under the PMAY.
“My name was at serial no. 27 in the list of PMAY beneficiaries for our village. But authorities concerned are yet to provide me assistance for construction of the house. I have raised the issue with Brahmagiri block development officer (BDO) several times but to no avail,” rued Prabhakar.
Echoing the similar views, Sarbeshwar claimed that people whose names were at the fag end of the PMAY beneficiaries list have already availed assistance under the scheme. “The cyclonic storm had damaged our house completely. The block authorities have turned a blind eye to our sufferings,” he said.
When contacted, Brahmagiri BDO Nilu Mahapatra said they have constituted a three-member committee to select beneficiaries for the PMAY. “The panel has been assigned the task to include people under the scheme after consulting the villagers and elected representatives. We will ask the committee to provide PMAY assistance to the two families on priority basis when there are fresh allotments in this regard,” he added.
PNN
