KOLKATA: Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi has given a clear instruction to all the district administration to ensure that the names of those having Pucca houses must be immediately omitted from the list of the beneficiaries intending to get a house under "Banglar Bari" project.
The District Magistrates (DMs) have been instructed to make sure that there is no nepotism or the influences in the allotment of the houses.
The Chief Secretary held a virtual meeting with the DMs of various districts regarding the 'Banglar Bari' scheme. The DMs have been asked to inform Nabanna if there is any law and order situation relating to the distribution of houses. Dwivedi has also directed the DMs to visit the spots in case of any agitation. DMs have to work in coordination with the district police.
There have been incidents reported from various places in the past few days where some local people staged protest demonstrations alleging irregularities in the distribution of the houses under the scheme. There were instances where ASHA workers were heckled.
Sources said that the state government has sent out a clear message that no irregularities in the project will be tolerated. Chief Secretary Dwivedi during Tuesday's meeting said that the works relating to the scheme are not satisfactory in some of the districts which include Coochbehar, Malda, Murshidabad, South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas, Hooghly.
The DMs in all these districts have been asked to look into why the districts lagged behind in implementing the scheme. All the required parameters need to be fulfilled in case of the allotment of the houses.
Incidentally, the state government has already formed a 9-member task force with the Panchayat and Rural Development Secretary P Ulganathan at its head to scrutinize Awas Yojana works in all the districts and also to examine whether there are any complaints regarding the distribution of houses under the scheme.
The main objective behind the move is to bring more transparency in the distribution of houses which are being set up under the PM Awas Yojana scheme and also to ensure the smooth implementation of various panchayat projects.
To address the grievances of the beneficiaries, the state government had opened control rooms at the BDO and SDO offices in the districts.
The Centre had recently allotted Rs 8,200 crore to the state under the PM Awas Yojana project. Around 11 lakh houses would be constructed through this fund.
The Bengal government on a number of occasions urged the Centre to clear various dues.
The Centre stopped providing funds to the Bengal government for nearly 8 months alleging there were irregularities in Panchayat works.