Another instance of alleged corruption in disbursal of compensation for people hit by Cyclone Amphan has been uncovered when a survey has found that many recipients of grants forked out by the Bengal government for betel leaf growers in East Midnapore were ineligible.
A smartphone-based geo-informatics verification by block development officials found that several people had received Rs 5,000 each under the Amphan Betel Vine Grant Payment scheme even though they had no plants.
The doles were delivered through panchayats and allegations cropped up that the ineligible beneficiaries were linked to panchayat members from the Trinamul Congress.
The district administration had in July distributed Rs 20 crore to betel growers who had applied for the compensation.
“Block development officials had received several reports of alleged irregularities in the initial beneficiary list. This led them to launch a smartphone-based geo-informatics verification through field workers. The survey is still on in the district’s 25 blocks,” said the source.
Sources said the field workers had found that several of the 39,000 dole applicants did not have betel plants.
“Approximately 80,000 farmers had applied for the initial dole and 39,000 were paid by block officials after reviewing eligibility,” said deputy director (horticulture), Swapan Kumar Sheet.
In Ramnagar I block, sources said, more 834 of the 2,200 applicants were not bona fide. Block officials said they had begun to compile a fresh list post-verification and ineligible beneficiaries would be asked to refund the amounts.
“We received reports that those 834 people are in some way connected to Trinamul,” said CPM leader Ashish Pramanik, adding that a written complaint had been submitted to the BDO.
In the Trinamul-run Bhagabanpur panchayat, member Mangalmay Bhowmick and five family members have all returned their doles of Rs 5,000 each, saying it was a “mistake” on their part. “We have asked all other party members to return the doles they had wrongfully taken,” he said.
Trinamul spokesperson Madhurima Mondal said: “All panchayat leaders have been directed to ensure the return of wrongfully received funds.”
