Dharmendra Pradhan says Odisha government is delaying central schemes
Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday attacked the state government for the slow progress of central schemes, especially the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the rural sector. Launched a scathing attack on the BJD government for large-scale corruption in the selection. While distributing houses to the beneficiaries at the Sankalp Samavesh rally held in Athagarh, the Union Minister said that only 17.56 lakh houses have been constructed in the state as against 27.5 lakh sanctioned by the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.
The Center has set a target to make all kutcha houses permanent under the ‘Housing for All’ scheme by March 2024. On an average, the state needs to construct around 9,000 houses per day to meet the balance of over 9.82 lakh houses. However, only 32 houses are being built in a day.
After the Modi government came to power in 2014, it had selected 41.71 lakh beneficiaries for housing assistance as per the 2011 socio-economic caste census. However, the state government removed 14,08,574 beneficiaries from the list of 41.72 lakh and selected 27,64,146.
Citing some serious irregularities in the selection and allotment of houses under the scheme, Pradhan said Kamala Sahu of Lingapada villages of Mancheshwar panchayat died in 2014, but a PMAY house was sanctioned in her name in 2016.
Similarly, a house in the name of Panchi Dei of Khuntakata village was sanctioned in 2023, four years after her demise in 2019. In another case, PMAY beneficiary Tuna Malik of Kumarpur village found out that the housing assistance released in his favor was withdrawn without his knowledge.
Even those who do not have homestead or bank account, work orders have been issued, which shows how the government is working in the state. The Union Minister said that the state government has mastered the art of misusing central schemes by pasting the official logo of BJD.
“It is a matter of concern that the state government has not been able to construct a single cold storage anywhere in the state, including Athagarh sub-division, which is considered the vegetable basket of Cuttack district,” he said. The state which had received only Rs 3 lakh crore during the Congress-led UPA government, has received more than Rs 18 lakh crore in the last nine years. Although no progress is visible in Odisha, the youth of the state are migrating in large numbers to other states in search of work.
