Barabanki: The residents of the Shekhpur Alipur village in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district have alleged that some houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) have been allotted to 'dead' persons and Non Resident Indians (NRIs).
What is the scheme
The PMAY scheme is aimed at housing for underprivileged people in the Indian society, the beneficiaries of which are chosen based on statistical socio-economic surveys. The target of the scheme is building 10 million houses for the poor in India.
At the 15th annual convention of the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri had said that of the initial target of 10 million houses in urban India, 8.4 million had been sanctioned,
"We have sanctioned 84 lakh houses. I have full faith that by December 2019, all the 1 crore houses will be sanctioned. The additional demand of 12 lakh [1.2 million] houses, which has raised our target to 1.12 crore, will be sanctioned in the first three months 2020," Puri said.
Hoping that houses will completed in a timely manner, he said 2.4 million homes had been handed over to the PMAY beneficiaries. "We have done grounding of 48 lakh houses. This figure will soon reach 75 lakh. We have handed over 24 lakh houses and that figure will soon touch 50 lakh," he said.
No house, no funds received
Amar Singh, a local resident, said: "My father Kamlesh Kumar, died on September 14 in 2015. I was informed that his name has appeared in the Pradhan Mantri Awas list in 2017. In 2018 the money was allotted for it, but we did not receive the money. We are eight siblings and we are forced to live in a dilapidated house even after a house has been allotted under the scheme to my father on the paper."
Ram Rawat, another villager, said: "Around 51 houses were allotted in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna list in 2017-18 in our village and out of these, 18 houses have been built. But the money which was withdrawn from the banks did not come to us. Who is receiving the money, we do not know. The village head and secretary all are involved in this mismanagement."
He said that a house has been allotted to one Danish Ali, who allegedly lives in Dubai. The money has been withdrawn from the bank but the name of the recipient is not available on the internet.
He further said that he had given a complaint against Kalirai Sahab, the village head, and his sons to the District Magistrate, Block Development Officer and other concerned officials but no action has been taken so far.
Ram Khilavan Gautam, of the same village, also claimed that he has not got the house and is facing a lot of difficulties in availing the benefit.
"My name is on the list. But neither do I have a house under the scheme nor a toilet. If I go and complain, the police beats me. Nobody in my family has received the house and we are living in poor conditions," he said.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate Adarsh Singh said that the names are allotted based on the population survey done by the government.
"We do receive such complaints for which we have a management authority that does the investigation. Moreover, the action is initiated against the person in charge for any mismanagement. Sometimes, the action leads to an FIR in case of grave offences," he said.
Singh further promised to investigate the complaints and resolve the issue after inquiry.
The PMAY is aimed at providing houses to those who are from economically weaker sections of the society and is one of the flagship schemes of the Modi government. Modi received an award from Bill Gates last week for another of his flagship projects, which aimed at healthy sanitation facilities for rural poor in India.
- Inputs from IANS, PTI
