The Centre has sent a letter pointing out loopholes in the Bengal government’s action taken report (ATR) on Delhi’s recommendations, sent in March, to rectify the faults identified by the central teams in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and has asked the state to send another report by November 30.

“It is informed that the senior officers’ team had found deficiencies in the ATR submitted by the state government in three districts namely, Nadia, Kalimpong and South 24 Parganas... The state government is, accordingly, requested to share the ATR within 15 days of the date of letter to this ministry i.e. by 30th November, 2023,” reads the letter issued by the deputy secretary in the Union ministry of rural development on November 15.

The letter mentioned that the team of senior officers had found that the survey for the PMAY was not carried out properly and the state government was not following the exclusion criteria for PMAY in rural areas in Nadia as people having motor cycles or two-wheelers were included in the list of beneficiaries.

“Further the team found that the name of the scheme is being changed by state government officials in their communications, which was also observed by NLM (national level monitoring) team,” reads the letter.

In the case of Kalimpong, the Centre pointed out that the logo of the PMAY was not found on three dwelling units out of seven houses visited by the NLM team. In one unit, the logo of the housing scheme for urban areas was pasted. The logo of the scheme could be found on four units out of seven units visited by the team, which is a deviation.

In the case of South 24 Parganas, the team found that a beneficiary was sanctioned the dwelling unit though he was living in a semi-kutcha house, which is also a deviation.

Besides these three districts, the Centre separately sent its observations on the deviations found in districts such as East and West Midnapore, East Burdwan, Murshidabad and Darjeeling.

Sources in the state panchayat department said they have already addressed these issues in their ATRs.

“If they want a fresh reply, we will send another ATR on Monday,” said a senior state government official.

Sources in the panchayat department said they have already mentioned that recommendations for all the beneficiaries were sent by the Gram Sabha in accordance with the direction of the Centre.

“So, the state cannot strike down any name that was recommended by the Gram Sabhas as per the direction of the rural development ministry,” said a source.

The letter from Delhi, however, assumes significance as it was sent just before the chief minister’s announced programme to hold a party meeting to decide on the next course of action on the Centre’s decision to hold back the release of funds under the rural development schemes.

The ruling party in Bengal has already staged several demonstrations led by Trinamul’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, demanding the release of funds under the 100-day job scheme and rural housing schemes in Delhi and Calcutta.

“The chief minister will now decide on the next stage of agitation demanding the release of rural development funds. It is clear that the Centre is under pressure and that’s why it is sending unnecessary letters,” said a minister.

Sources said that since the state has addressed all the issues raised by the Centre in March this year, it is not clear why almost the same questions were being raised in November again.

“It is clear that the Centre did not release funds for purely political reasons… Now it is trying to justify its measures by raising irrelevant questions,” said a source.