LMC stops PMAY lottery to catch ineligible applicants

Among the thousand applications received for the houses many were reportedly from people not eligible for the scheme

Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has temporarily stopped a lottery for the allotment of 264 houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Lucknow’s Devpur Para, sources in the Corporation confirmed.

(For representation)

The reason: among the thousand applications received for the houses many were from people not eligible for the scheme, the sources said, adding LMC chief Inderjit Singh’s decision to call off the lottery for the time being was in response to a complaint LMC received regarding the same.

These 264 houses are built in a four-storied building and each housing unit is 320 sq ft.

According to an LMC official, who didn’t wish to be named, the lottery process would resume pending an investigation by LMC. “The municipal commissioner received a complaint that several ineligible persons had applied for the scheme. Several people hid their income while applying. Several who already own a house have also applied,” the official said.

Some individuals left out details such as their Aadhaar information and address, the officials said, adding in some cases money was transferred from an account not owned by beneficiaries.

Door-to-door survey

What lies ahead? Zonal officers and tax assessment officers may now visit houses of PMAY applicants to ascertain if they’re actually eligible. “They will then submit a report with details such as if their incomes were below ₹3 lakh, if they were disabled or a widow and the likes,” said another LMC official.

“A lottery process has been stopped till the time every applicant is screened and checked by the department,” said P K Singh, LMC city engineer of zone 6. Singh added there were some suspicious people on the list, which LMC needed to rectify,” added Singh.

“We disclose all information to individuals with incorrect or incomplete documents. If the applicant does not contact back the department, their application will be cancelled”, added Singh.