Houses allotted to beneficiaries with annual income of more than three lakhs in Chhattisgarh (symbolized picture)
JNN, Raipur. A case of serious irregularities has come to light under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban in Chhattisgarh. Houses were allotted to 71 beneficiaries with annual income above Rs 3 lakh, ignoring eligibility standards. Of these, 51 beneficiaries are officers and employees working in urban local bodies and various government departments.
This revelation has been made in the Performance and Compliance Audit (Civil) report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the period ending March 2023, presented in the Assembly on Wednesday.
According to the CAG report, there is a clear provision in the guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban that only the beneficiaries belonging to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) with annual income less than Rs. 3 lakh can avail the benefits of Affordable Housing (AHP) and Beneficiary Based Individual Housing (BLC) in the component participation of the scheme.
Despite this, 71 such beneficiaries were selected in four urban local bodies Bilaspur, Raipur, Korba and Nagar Panchayat Premnagar, whose income was more than the prescribed limit.
Officials and employees took advantage of the scheme under the Economically Weaker Section by giving false declarations of annual family income.
Despite being aware of this fact, the urban local body ignored it and gave unfair benefits to ineligible beneficiaries. The benefits are given by dividing them into four parts. Department officials say that there are four main components of PM Awas Yojana-Urban.
These include Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), In-situ Rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers (ISSR) and construction or extension of subsidized individual house (BLC). The objective of all four components is to provide permanent houses to eligible urban families.
PM Awas Yojana – Urban 2.0 has included Affordable Rental Housing Complex (AAF) component in place of ISSR.
Avail benefits of both the schemes: 99 beneficiaries in 42 urban bodies have availed the benefits of PM Gramin Awas Yojana – both urban and rural. The report said that 52 beneficiaries have completed houses under both the schemes. Whereas, 47 had completed the work in one scheme and progress was made in the other scheme.
As soon as information about ineligible beneficiaries is received, action will be taken as per rules. People's dreams are coming true through PM Awas in the state. If there is any irregularity anywhere, cognizance will definitely be taken and investigation will be done. Arun Sao, Deputy Chief Minister
Rs 4.05 crore released without verification
The CAG report also mentions that after examining the documents of the urban local bodies, it has been found that the construction work has been started by 250 beneficiaries without submitting the documents of transfer of the plot in their name.
The civic bodies paid assistance of Rs 4.05 crore to 250 beneficiaries without ensuring transfer of land in the names of the beneficiaries. On this, the state government has said that notices were issued for submission of land transfer documents in the name of beneficiaries. In some cases, letters have also been sent to Tehsildars, which are still pending.