BJP points fingers at PM Awas Yojana in Odisha, questions beneficiary list

The final list will be prepared in the gram sabhas that will be held in every village in the state later this month. Reports from across the state indicate that people whose names are missing in the provisional list have begun lodging complaints.

However, the BJP has alleged that around 2.5 lakh ineligible candidates figure in the provisional list and that the names of around 1.5 lakh people, who meet the criteria for availing the houses, are also missing.

Levelling charges against the BJD for “selecting beneficiaries based on political considerations” and “denying houses to the needy who have an allegiance to other parties”, the BJP workers staged demonstrations in the state’s 314 blocks Wednesday. The party also submitted a “letter of warning” to Patnaik. In some blocks, the BJP leaders have been on a dharna for the last two days.

“It is the duty of the government to exclude names of ineligible beneficiaries. Names of many people, who already have pucca houses and are influential, have been included in the provisional list. Many genuine people living in huts and thatched houses were not included,” BJP leader Prithiviraj Harichandan said.

“If the government will not rectify the list and include those who genuinely need a pucca house in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Centre, the BJP would gherao every block and stage satyagraha in every district,” he added.

The BJP’s allegations in the state over irregularities in the scheme are not new. It has previously lodged several complaints with the Centre, following which the allocation of new houses was stopped in 2019.

A central team that visited Odisha in February 2021 to inquire into the irregularities also found lapses in selection of beneficiaries, quality of construction of houses and absence of PMAY-G logo in those houses.

In August 2022, Union panchayati raj and rural development minister Giriraj Singh flagged issues related to the anomalies in the list of beneficiaries, uploading data on Awas-soft website, the bank account numbers of the beneficiaries, transfer of funds to non-eligible persons and denial of benefits to legitimate individuals at a meeting with his Odisha counterpart Pradip Amat. Singh also raised serious objections to the change of the PMAY-G logo in the state and said it violated guidelines.

With the allocation of new houses by the Centre, the BJD government is trying to gain political mileage by reiterating the state government’s contribution – the scheme is run on a 60:40 basis – and has spoken of ensuring “shelter security”. The Patnaik government has also prepared an action plan to ensure that these 9.5 lakh houses are constructed in the next six to eight months.

The unit cost received by the beneficiaries under the PMAY-G scheme are Rs 1.20 lakh in plains and Rs 1.3 lakh in the hills. The state government also provides incentives for constructing these houses in six to eight months.

Responding to the BJP’s allegations, senior BJD leader Debiprasad Mishra said: “If the BJP has the list of ineligible beneficiaries, let them publish it on their website. There is no point in making allegations only for the sake of politics.”

Amat said the state government was “trying to ensure full transparency” in the process and that the state government has given enough time to receive objections on the provisional list.

The BJD has accused the BJP of “conspiring to stop allocation of PMAY houses to Odisha”.

Addressing the media Wednesday, BJD Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said: “BJP leaders worked against the interests of the people of Odisha by going to the Centre as public representatives. They conspired and stopped allocation of lakhs of rural houses under PMAY.”

Saying that “Odisha was awarded by the Centre for best performance in PMAY implementation”, Patra said that BJP leaders put pressure to stop the sanction of houses.

“Their (BJP’s) conspiracy was successful and the PMAY houses were stopped by the Centre. With pressure from the Odisha government and the BJD MPs, the Centre sanctioned the new houses,” said Patra.

Claiming that the Centre allocated only eight lakh houses for Odisha against the state’s need for more than 15 lakh houses, Patra alleged that the Centre is going to stop the rural housing scheme from this year.

“The BJP is stopping this scheme from this year and are doing this to cover it up. The BJP has been crying hoarse about beneficiaries who are present or not present in the PMAY list. Even if you stop rural housing under PMAY, the BJD government will provide houses and take care of its people,” he said.