The wrangle over the Centre’s refusal to release funds to Bengal under its housing scheme remains unresolved despite a meeting between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and two rounds of discussions between state and central officials.
Nearly 10 lakh poor families in Bengal have been waiting for nearly a year and a half for support under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana Grameen (PMAY-G).
Social activists have criticised the Union rural development ministry for “punishing poor families” over alleged administrative irregularities on the part of the state government.
According to data with the Union ministry, the Centre has sanctioned 4,427,167 (44 lakh) houses in Bengal under the PMAY-G but only 3,411,599 (34 lakh) of them have been completed.
A family gets Rs 1.2 lakh to build a house, 60 per cent of the money coming from the Centre and 40 per cent from the state.
According to the scheme guidelines, the Union ministry has to release the first of three instalments to the beneficiaries within a week of their houses receiving sanction. However, 10 lakh families in Bengal are yet to receive the first instalment some 17 months after houses for them were sanctioned.
Without the release of the first instalment from the Union ministry, the state government cannot release its matching grants.
Mamata met Modi in Delhi to discuss the subject, among others, on December 20 last year. After the meeting, she said she had been assured that a joint meeting of officials would look into the issue of funds release.
Two officials from the Bengal government said two rounds of meetings had been held.
The first was held on January 23, where Bengal was represented by its rural development secretary, P. Ulaganathan, and other officials.
The Union rural development secretary, Shailesh Kumar Singh, presided over the meeting, which was attended by officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and several central ministries.
The second meeting was held on February 21. Bengal additional chief secretary Manoj Pant attended it. At both meetings, the Union ministry flagged the alleged inclusion of illegible people in the list of beneficiaries.
“It was clarified that each and every beneficiary had been selected in keeping with the framework for the implementation of the scheme,” a Bengal official told this newspaper.
“All the issues were addressed at both meetings. Specific clarifications were given on why and how some people had been included and some others not. There’s been no further development after the meetings.”
Anees Thillenkery, secretary of the Ekta Parishad, a civil society organisation spearheading a movement for a legal right to homestead land for the landless, said poor people should not have been punished for alleged irregularities by the state government.
“The Union ministry should not have stopped the release of funds to so many families. If at all the state machinery has selected some ineligible people, that cannot be a reason to deny funds to a large number of genuine beneficiaries,” Thillenkery said.
He said the Union government should sort the matter out proactively instead of prolonging the poor families’ wait.
An email has been sent to the Union rural development secretary seeking his comments on the delay in funds release even after two rounds of discussions. His response is awaited.
Job scheme funds
The Union rural development ministry has since April 2022 withheld funds to Bengal under the 100 days’ rural job scheme, claiming the inclusion of bogus beneficiaries.
The Bengal government has released funds out of its own pocket towards clearing the wage arrears. However, some workers have complained they have not yet received their wage dues.
The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, an NGO, has moved a public-interest plea before Calcutta High Court seeking a directive to the Centre to release the funds. The court last month set up a committee to examine the alleged inclusion of bogus workers.
Tapojay Mukherjee, a Morcha member, said the job scheme had been trapped in a bureaucratic hole.
“The scheme has come to a complete standstill in Bengal. No worker is getting any job because of the bureaucratic hole,” he said.
