PATNA: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged irregularities in the implementation of the PMAY-G scheme in Bihar, with allegations ranging from sanctioning of pucca houses to children to geo-tagging of houses located in Delhi and Jharkhand.
The report was tabled in the state Assembly on Thursday.
“During test-check of records of the sampled districts, audit observed instances of sanction of houses to ineligible beneficiaries. There was no provision for registration/sanction of houses to minors in the PMAY-G. The central government had clarified in September 2017 that if the beneficiaries–husband and wife–both had died then the minor child, whose name was displayed in the list, may be sanctioned a house jointly with the guardian or officer of the block/panchayat, after verification. However, the audit revealed four cases of minor beneficiaries,” the report said.
Audit noticed two instances of irregular sanction of houses to minors, despite their parents being alive, indicating that their eligibility had not been verified properly. Payments of Rs 2.50 lakh had been made to these two minor ineligible beneficiaries, the report stated.
Regarding discrepancies in geo-tagging, the report said, “Audit observed cases of houses being geo-tagged outside their concerned geographical position, district and even outside the state. In 52 cases, location of houses had been geo-tagged at distant places in the state, in wide deviation from the actual house locations. In three cases, the locations of houses were geo-tagged at places outside the state in Delhi and Jharkhand, with distances ranging from 51 km to 915 km.”
Launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) is a flagship programme aimed at providing affordable housing for the rural poor.
Under the scheme, pucca houses with basic facilities, including hygienic kitchens, are provided to families living in kutcha houses.
