Kolkata, Sept. 22 -- The Suvendu Adhikari government is set to transfer the first instalment of Rs 60,000 to the bank accounts of 30 lakh families each in rural areas after Puja under the PM Awas Yojana scheme. This will be the first instalment of the funds, which will be directly credited to the beneficiaries' accounts after the PM Awas Yojana is implemented in West Bengal following the change of guard.
Incidentally, the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) introduced its own state housing scheme and stopped implementing the Central housing scheme named after the Prime Minister. According to sources, around 55 lakh people enrolled for the PM Awas Yojana this year. However, the state government is carrying out a stringent verification procedure to ensure that no ineligible candidates avail the facility.
It was learnt that the State Panchayat Minister Dilip Ghosh held several meetings with officers from his department in various districts. The minister instructed officials to put in place an adequate and foolproof mechanism so that no irregularities occur centring around the PM Awas Yojana. During the previous TMC government's tenure, large-scale corruption allegedly occurred relating to the Awas Yojana, following which the Centre stopped providing funds.
It was learnt that around 10 per cent of applications out of 55 lakh were undergoing verification for the second time at the BDO office level. Around 10 lakh people submitted their applications online. Sources said that the state government would provide funds to 30 lakh beneficiaries under the PM Awas Yojana in the current financial year. The first instalment of Rs 60,000 will be credited to the beneficiaries' accounts after Puja. In the hilly regions, funds up to Rs 1.30 lakh will be given to the beneficiaries.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.