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Defects pointed out again in Odisha’s PMAY implementation
Officials said an Action Taken Report of the state government was earlier found to be unsatisfactory and not accepted
Bhubaneswar: Over a year after a Union rural development ministry team flagged irregularities in the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin scheme in Odisha, it has again pointed out flaws in the scheme’s implementation following its second visit to the state this month.
Officials said the team revisited the state in the first week of March and found that despite an advisory for the PMAY-G logo on the houses constructed under the scheme, the logo of Biju Pucca Ghar, a state government scheme, continue. “In most of the cases, the logo of Biju Pucca Ghar was more prominent than the PMAY-G logo. The construction quality continued to be poor and Awaas survey was not conducted properly,” the team said in its fresh report.
Officials said the second visit came after the Action Taken Report of the state government on the earlier findings in February last year were found to be unsatisfactory. The ministry did not accept the report.
Under PMAY-G, the ministry gives ₹1.3 lakh assistance to the homeless in Maoist violence-hit and ₹1.2 lakh in other areas to build a minimum of 25 square metre cemented houses. The beneficiary can also avail of 90/95-day wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. ₹2,000 are also provided for the construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The Centre and the state provide assistance to the beneficiaries in the ratio of 60:40. As per the ministry’s portal, of the 2.69 million houses sanctioned to Odisha under the scheme, 1.68 million, roughly 62%, have been completed.
In February last year, a team led by deputy director-general (PMAY-G) Gaya Prasad visited Odisha for an inquiry into state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) complaints of irregularities in the beneficiary selection. It found violations of norms. The BJP has alleged 85% of the PMAY-G beneficiaries in Odisha were ineligible for the scheme and most of the funds were utilised for personal gains. It also alleged members of the same families have been sanctioned houses under the scheme.
The central team found some houses were shown to have been completed, but they were incomplete. In some cases, houses were sanctioned to members of the same family. In several houses, the PMAY-G logo was missing.
The ministry later wrote to Odisha chief secretary Suresh Mohapatra suggesting the money sanctioned to ineligible beneficiaries be recovered and cases lodged against government officials for the lapses. It asked the state to take measures to improve the quality of the houses and bring them to a liveable standard.
Odisha submitted its report in July 2021, justifying the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana logo on the houses as the state government has provided 40% money for them.
Odisha panchayatiraj secretary AKK Meena said he is yet to get the fresh report of the central team and would be unable to comment.
Union minister and BJP leader Bishweswar Tudu accused the ruling Biju Janata Dal of favouritism and gifting ineligible party workers PMAY houses instead of deserving beneficiaries to strengthen its vote bank. “Scams to the tune of crores of rupees have been committed in the execution of PMAY in the state...the real beneficiaries have been deprived of its benefit.” He added Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target to provide concrete houses to all eligible beneficiaries under the scheme by 2022. “However, the target has so far remained unfulfilled due to the negligence of the state government.”
