PATNA: Providing of benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) to deceased persons, payment of instalments to those ineligible to the scheme and full assistance paid against non-existing houses have been found during an audit exercise in 10 districts of Bihar, an official said on Saturday.
Unrealistic geo-tagging of house locations and payment of instalments in wrong accounts are also among the discrepancies observed by teams of the accountant general (AG-Bihar) during the audit of the implementation of the rural housing scheme in the state.
Based on the ‘performance audit’ report, state Rural Development Department Secretary N Saravana Kumar has recently asked all deputy development commissioners (DDCs) and officers concerned to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines of the Centre for implementing the programme.
“Officers concerned must ensure transparency and strict adherence to the guidelines, under the ‘Framework for implementation of the PMAY-G’, issued by the Centre’s Rural Development Ministry,” he said in the letter.
According to the letter sent to DDCs, the discrepancies in the implementation of the PMAY-G are “benefits granted in the name of dead persons in certain cases in the state, irregular payment of instalments to ineligible beneficiaries, unrealistic geo-tagging, payment of instalments in wrong accounts”.
“Auditors also observed non-preparation of comprehensive annual action plans in certain areas, approvals granted in Gram Sabha meetings without a quorum, full assistance paid against non-existing PMAY-G houses,” said the letter, a copy of which is available with PTI.
Commenting on the irregularities observed by the auditors, Bihar Rural Development Minister Sharvan Kumar said all these were old cases.
“The department has been taking strict action against all those who are involved in such practices. I have given strict instruction to the officials concerned to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines issued for the implementation of PMAY-G in the state,” the minister told PTI.
He also claimed that the ‘Mahagathbandhan government under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has a “zero tolerance against corruption”.
The minister accused the Centre of ignoring Bihar’s request on the PMAY-G scheme.
“Many eligible families in Bihar are still waiting for houses. The Union government has not provided the state with fresh targets under the PMAY-G scheme for the last three years,” he said.
Sharvan Kumar claimed that Bihar, along with several other states, has not received any fresh targets from the Centre for 2018-19, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The PMAY-G initiative seeks to provide ‘pucca’ houses, with all the basic amenities, including water, sanitation and electricity, to all the eligible rural households, in two phases.
The cost of one unit is shared by the central and state governments in a ratio of 60:40.
The assistance for each unit in the plains is Rs 1.20 lakh, while the same is Rs 1.30 lakh per unit in hilly and difficult areas and districts under the Integrated Action Plan.
Reacting to the minister’s allegation, senior Bihar BJP leader Nikhil Anand told PTI, “The Bihar government is neck-deep in corruption and that is why most of the welfare schemes of the Centre are not properly implemented in the state.”
He also alleged that the state government is “indulging in manipulation to present fake data to the union government about the central welfare schemes”.
“The fund of the central government schemes is being diverted and looted by the people in the state government. We condemn the Bihar government for not properly implementing ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and PMAY-G schemes in the state. There should be a thorough probe by the central agencies into such discrepancies observed by the auditors,” the BJP leader added.
Ayushman Bharat, a flagship scheme of the Centre, was launched to achieve the vision of universal health coverage.
