Kolkata, Jan 6 (PTI) A Central team looking into allegations of irregularities in the allotment of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) on Friday visited various villages in West Bengal’s Malda district, officials said.
The team led by Deputy Secretary in the Union Rural Development Ministry, Shakti Kanti Singh visited Kaliachak Block 1 in Malda district during the day.
“The team is visiting villages and conducting field inspection. The team members spoke to villagers. Officers of the district administration are accompanying them,” a district official said.
The central team stationed at Purba Medinipur district led by Shailesh Kumar is also scheduled to visit villages in the district, the officials said.
The two teams had arrived on Thursday and sparked off a political slugfest with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing Delhi of sending officers to check on “trivial matters” while denying MGNREGS funds to the state.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh Friday said the visit is an attempt to malign the state as “The state government has already taken action in cases where there was any wrongdoing”.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh dubbed the TMC allegations as “baseless” and founded on “vendetta politics”. “Why is the TMC so terrified if it is not involved in the PMAY scam? There has been a scam which is why the Centre has sent teams to the state,” he asserted.
Banerjee, a vociferous critic of the BJP, had lashed out on Thursday and said “The Centre is sending teams to Bengal for trivial matters – even if there is an incident of cracker being burst, it sends teams.” Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in a tweet urged Union Rural Development minister Giriraj Singh to conduct inspection in every block, if not in every panchayat, “to stop the daylight robbery of central government funds and take appropriate legal steps to punish the perpetrators.” In continuing protests in rural belt of West Bengal, BJP supporters demonstrated outside the panchayat office in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district Friday, alleging the beneficiaries of PMAY lived in two-storied pucca houses while those living in mud houses were deprived despite having enlisted their names in local panchayats.
Similar protests took place in Tamluk block in Purba Medinipur district.
One day back, villagers gheraoed the panchayat pradhan of Ghutgharia gram panchayat in Bankura alleging the deserving ones did not get money under PMAY. Similar protests were held at TMC-run Bairampur gram panchayat in North 24 Parganas district accusing the pradhan.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party would take strict action if any misdeed on the part of heads of TMC-run panchayats come to notice but the BJP is trying to foment disturbances across West Bengal.
“Our leader Abhishek Banerjee had emphasised time and again the party has zero tolerance to any act of misappropriation of funds for rural projects. Several gram panchayat pradhans had been removed from their posts and action initiated against them. In contrast, BJP is yet to take any action against those in the saffron party involved in embezzlement of funds and corruption. When Suvendu Adhilkari points finger at TMC,” Kunal Ghosh added.
CPI(M) leader Samik Lahiri said “both TMC and BJP are two sides of the same coin. Both parties have aided and abetted corruption wherever they are in power. We call upon the people of West bengal to elect the Marxists in great number in panchayats.” The state’s political cauldron has been on the boil for some time now over allegations and counter allegations of irregularities in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) after it was found applications by several people having multi-storied homes were approved in some districts. The union rural development ministry had sent a communication to the West Bengal government on January 3 informing it of the visit. PTI PNT SUS RG RG
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