Bengal sets up task force to supervise over 11 lakh beneficiaries of PMAY

KOLKATA:  Amid complaints that officials and workers checking the bonafides of the applicants under a central scheme are facing resistance from a section of villagers across the state, the state government has set up a task force to supervise the verification of the eligibility of 11 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The task force will be headed by the secretary of the panchayat department.

For the first time, the state government has initiated the physical verification of eligible beneficiaries as the Centre is keeping a close watch on the disbursal of funds. After stopping the fund under  PMAY since December 2021 citing irregularities, the Centre recently approved a fund of Rs 13,000 crore for building up 11.34 lakh homes for the poor within 2026.

Sources in the government said the resistance was coming because many ineligible applicants, who are either relatives of the ruling Trinamool Congress satraps or from their close circuits, fear of being axed after the spot verification.

An official of the fisheries department was allegedly manhandled recently when she went to verify the credentials of the PMAY’s prospective beneficiaries at Amta in Howrah district. The accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a court.

“The incident came as an embarrassment for the state government, which may further give the Centre a chance to stop releasing the fund citing malpractices. The prosecution will send a message that the government is in no mood to allow such activity. All district administrations have already been instructed to verify the list of applicants properly,” said an official of the panchayat department.

The Bengal government started the spot verification survey on December 4 and several complaints have already reached that officials are being harassed when they go to check the eligibility of beneficiaries. “Since, almost all the panchayats are being dominated by the ruling Trinamool Congress, the functionaries of the ruling party in villages are intercepting to secure names of their own men in the list of beneficiaries. But we have clear instructions not to allow a single ineligible applicant as it can invite the Centre’s bar on the housing project once again,” said another official.