A group of villagers in Cooch Behar locked up the panchayat office on Saturday, alleging that many eligible for assistance under the Bangla Awas Yojana had not been included in the list of beneficiaries prepared by the administration.

In the past 24 hours, this is the third protest in the district on the Awas housing issue.

On Friday, two groups staged road blockades and demonstrated in two locations of Cooch Behar, demanding they be included in the beneficiaries’ list.

On Saturday around 11am, a group of around 250 villagers, including women, reached the Choto Salbari panchayat in Sitalkuchi block of the district. They locked up the panchayat office and started a demonstration in front of the building.

“A section of administrative officials didn’t follow the guidelines during the (recent) survey to identify the genuine beneficiaries of the housing scheme,” alleged Ainal Mian, a protester.

“When the list was published, we found names of persons with concrete houses in it. Yet, people like us who live in huts and shanties are not included in the list,” he added. “How is this possible?”

The demonstrators claimed that they could prove the existing list of beneficiaries was flawed.

“We are ready to prove that the list prepared at the block level is faulty, at least as far as our area is concerned. A fresh survey should be conducted across the panchayat area to include the names of all eligible people, or else we will intensify our movement,” said another villager.

A team from the Sitalkuchi police station went to the spot with Dipak Roy Pramanik, a zilla parishad member. Some Trinamool leaders also reached the place.

They all spoke with the aggrieved villagers to
pacify them.

Finally, around 1pm, the demonstrators unlocked the panchayat office.

“We have informed the block administration about the villagers’ grievances,”
said Pramanik.