Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the panchayat and rural development department to verify the names of 11.36 lakh beneficiaries of the rural housing scheme once again before the state starts releasing the first instalment for the construction of dwelling units in the absence of central funds.

"The state will give funds for the rural housing scheme. You should verify the names of the beneficiaries once again. You should not entertain any recommendations," the chief minister was quoted as saying during a meeting with senior IAS and IPS officers at Nabanna on Tuesday.

Sources in the state administration said the move to verify the names of the beneficiaries assumes significance since the Opposition parties, mainly the BJP, had alleged that the Centre stopped the release of funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) only because the list of beneficiaries was not flawless.

The state government had finalised the list of 11.36 lakh beneficiaries after a three-step verification to ensure that only genuine and needy people got the benefits of the scheme, under which one gets ₹1.20 lakh to construct houses on their plots. But the Centre did not release its share of more than ₹8,000 crore in 2022-23 after the state sent the list of beneficiaries to Delhi, citing that the list was not flawless and the state violated norms under the scheme.

"The chief minister had promised during her election campaigns that the state would release the first instalment of ₹60,000 to the beneficiaries to construct their houses if the Centre does not release funds under the scheme. Now, a fresh verification of the beneficiaries draws the attention of the political and administrative circles," said a senior bureaucrat.

A panchayat department source said the fresh verification was required to find out whether any of the beneficiaries, who made it into the list a year ago, still fulfilled the criteria.

"It may happen that any of the beneficiaries has constructed his house in the past one year. In that case, his name would have to be omitted from the list and a person who fulfils the criteria needs to be added to the list," said the source.

But a section of the bureaucrats said that the fresh verification was important as the chief minister did not want any controversy over the list of beneficiaries once the state released funds to construct houses in rural areas.

"She knows that if questions are raised over the list of beneficiaries, it could hurt the ruling party as the funds would be released from the state exchequer. The chief minister has planned to corner the BJP by releasing funds for the rural housing scheme in the absence of central funds. If questions are raised over the list of beneficiaries, the BJP would get a chance to counter the TMC," said a bureaucrat.

The rural housing scheme, TMC sources said, could be a weapon to counter the BJP ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls and this was why the chief minister was very cautious before releasing funds to the beneficiaries.