Malda to disburse housing aid to 66,000 beneficiaries in 2nd phase of ‘Banglar Bari’

Malda: The Malda district administration is set to disburse financial assistance to around 66,000 beneficiaries under the second phase of the state government’s flagship Banglar Bari housing scheme. Chanchal-I and Harishchandrapur-II blocks have emerged as the highest beneficiary zones in the district, officials said.

According to administrative sources, the second phase of the scheme will bring a new feature aimed at strengthening basic sanitation. Beneficiaries who do not have toilets at their homes will be provided with free toilet construction along with their new houses. The initiative will be implemented under the Nirmal Bangla project, in coordination with the Swachh Bharat (Gramin) Mission. District Magistrate Preety Goyal said that block-wise reviews have been conducted to speed up development works. “All blocks have been instructed to ensure timely completion of construction-related processes so that beneficiaries do not face delays,” she said.

Under the Banglar Bari scheme, each beneficiary receives Rs 1.20 lakh from the state government in two instalments. The first instalment of Rs 60,000 is released for construction up to the lintel level. The second instalment is disbursed after on-ground verification once lintel casting is completed.“January has been earmarked for the release of funds for the second phase.

Once the green signal comes from Nabanna, money will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of nearly 69,000 beneficiaries,” a senior district official said.

Emphasising the sanitation component, an official stated: “If it is found during inspection that a beneficiary does not have a toilet, a new toilet will be constructed along with the house. No beneficiary will be left without basic sanitation facilities.”

Officials pointed out that Malda district has already achieved nearly 100 per cent coverage under the Open Defecation Free (ODF) initiative. However, the administration wants to ensure that newly constructed houses under Banglar Bari also meet hygiene and sanitation standards.

Chanchal-I block has the highest number of beneficiaries at 12,440, followed by Harishchandrapur-II with 10,992 beneficiaries. Other blocks such as English Bazar, Old Malda and several rural blocks have beneficiary numbers ranging between 2,000 and 5,000.

The draft list for Banglar Bari 2025–26 has also been published. As per the list, English Bazar has 8,357 beneficiaries, Chanchal-II 3,233, Gazole 2,170, Habibpur 2,496, Harishchandrapur-I 4,901, Manikchak 1,192, Kaliachak-III 5,305, Ratua-I 2,648, and Ratua-II 4,679 beneficiaries.