The Block Development Officer (BDO) of Rongjeng has been accused of acting slowly in a case where 14 job card holders from Nongchram village have allegedly been deprived of houses that they were entitled to under the central Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
While such a case would, in other places, have seen heads rool, the Dambo-Rongjeng Community and Rural Development Block’s answer has been to employ a “go extremely slowly” approach.
The affected villagers had earlier submitted a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of East Garo Hills over the alleged collusion between Village Employment Council officials as well as that of the block after monies meant for them to be able to construct pukka houses went to ghost beneficiaries.
As proof the villagers provided the names of the beneficiaries who were supposed to get PMAY houses but whose funds were diverted to others.
The DC, Swapnil Tembe, had then forwarded the complaint to the BDO asking for an investigation to be carried out but, according to the villagers, no official has come to the area to date.
A visit to the quaint little village, close to the border with West Khasi Hills, brought out some more revelations from the villagers and pointed to who could be responsible.
The villagers named the Gram Sevak, identified as one Daniel K Marak, as the one responsible for the mess.
“When we raised the complaint, he came to us and said he would adjust our names in the next batch of PMAY houses. How will that be possible without once again taking away what rightly belongs to someone else?” asked one of the affected beneficiaries.
According to the complainants, an amount of Rs 52,000 in the first tranche was transferred to the bogus beneficiaries instead of the genuine ones in 2019-20. Some of these bogus beneficiaries have already started construction of their low-cost houses.
“The names of the beneficiaries on the list are either non-existent or dead. Even the names of the beneficiaries that figure on the list appear just as letters like JVUUHV, JZSDCG NJGJDCS. However the PMAY ids and work code that appear are the ones of the genuine beneficiaries,” added another victim, Pobing Momin.
The villagers fell that the administration is dragging its feet in the open case of manipulation and corruption.
“What is stopping them from taking action on the matter? We are the ones who are suffering. Will the central government provide us another sanction for a PMAY house? Why can’t they just do what is right and act on those involved in corruption?” asked another victim of the fraud, Jedingstar Shira.
When contacted on the status of the investigation, the DC informed that the matter was still pending with the BDO but did not provide any information on why the C&RD Block was dragging its feet on the issue.
