FOR A ROOF Money received from Centre, yet thousands left out of Indira Awas Yojana
All its noise about the Centre being biased against Punjab notwithstanding, the state government itself has helped only 44 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) this financial year, despite 75 per cent of the funds coming from the Centre.
Meant to help the below poverty line (BPL) population build houses, the state was set a target of building/upgrade of 40,120 houses, but the total units sanctioned so far this financial year are only 20,096.
Under the head of grant for new dwellings, 14,781 families are yet to receive the benefit, while 5,899 more have the right to get funds under the head for upgrade of kutcha houses.
As per the laid down proce- dure for sanctioning funds, the gram panchayat prepares a list of deserving beneficiaries, which reaches the block development panchayat officer, who sanc- tions the funds.
Except in Amritsar, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Moga and Hoshiarpur, the target achieve- ment in all other districts is below 50 per cent, according to data from the Rural Development and Panchayat Department. While Mansa, Nawanshahr and Muktsar have achieved only 20 per cent, Jalandhar and Roopnagar have not helped a single family in 2009-10.
But this is not the complete story. There is also a mismatch between the physical target (44 per cent) and the financial tar- get achieved (71 per cent). Out of the Rs 67.92 crore allocated, Rs 48.34 crore has been spent.
Each beneficiary gets Rs 35,000.
A senior official said the gap could be accounted for once the dwellings under construc- tion, or those on which work was yet to begin but had received the cheques, were completed. The figures could also be revised once the latest data came in, he added.
A random check by HT in Ferozepur revealed that were still many villages with more than 200 kutcha houses, many with roofs on the verge of col- lapse. Luthar, Jhoke Hari Har, Bhodipur, Khai Pheme Ke and Chak Nadhana Bora are some of the villages where BPL fam- ilies have staged several dhar- nas, alleging they have either been ignored by their pan- chayats or have not received money despite being on the list.
Ferozepur-based Dalit Welfare Sabha president Bagga Singh, who has been raising the issue with the state author- ities, alleges sarpanches often take cheques on behalf of illit- erate beneficiaries, on the plea they would arrange contrac- tors and have their houses built.
However, Bagga alleges the poor families never receive materi- al worth all of the Rs 35,000 sanctioned.
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