Odisha makes provisional PMAY beneficiary list public; BJP threatens stir over 'left out families'

The BJP has threatened a mass agitation against a list of PM Awas Yojana (PMAY) beneficiaries made public by the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, which it says has left out 1.5 lakh poor people.

The state government has made the provisional list of beneficiaries public on Monday.

The state's Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department displayed the provisional list of 9.5 lakh beneficiaries under the scheme at all the gram panchayat offices, schools, anganwadi centres and other public places in villages.

The list will remain displayed from January 16 to January 24 for public scrutiny, the department secretary S K Lohani said.

"If any ineligible household's name is found in the list, people can file an objection against the particular ineligible household. On receipt of the complaint, necessary action will be taken on due inquiry," Lohani said, adding that the last date for filing the complaint is January 24.

Based on complaints, a further inquiry will be done for the deletion of all ineligible households from the provisional list of PMAY.

The final list of eligible beneficiaries will be sent for obtaining approval of the gram sabha and then only the state government will issue work orders to all the eligible households of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen), he said.

As the scheme has a provision of 60:40 share basis between the Centre and the state, Odisha will receive close to Rs 16,000-Rs 17000 crore in the next 6-8 months' time.

The BJP, however, alleged that of the 9.5 lakh names on the list, around 1.5 lakh people whose name figured in the provisional waiting list of 2018-19 was missing this time.

"The state government was attempting to benefit BJD supporters while preparing the list of PMAY beneficiaries. The names of over 1.5 lakh eligible people have been deleted with a political motive," alleged state BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan at a press conference here.

Asking the state government to maintain transparency while preparing the list of beneficiaries, the BJP leader said that the tentative list of 2018-19 should be used as a reference. He said the government should open a grievance cell at the block office and not at the panchayat office to avoid any unpleasant situation.

"If the list is not corrected, the BJP will not hesitate to go for Naveen Niwas (CM's private residence) gherao with 1.5 lakh people deprived of getting houses under the PMAY," Harichandan said.

The BJP leader also asked the government to use the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana logo. The nomenclature of the national flagship programme cannot be changed, he said.

Senior BJD MLA and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy said that the BJP has been making "wild allegations without having any basis".

"This is just a provisional list and subject to correction. It will be done in a transparent manner through gram sabha," Satpathy said.

BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said that though the scheme is named as PMAY, the state's share is also 40 per cent.

"Apart from 40 per cent share in house expenditure, the state also spends a substantial amount in incentives which almost come to 50 per cent of the expenditure. Therefore, both the Centre and the state government have equal claim over the scheme," Mishra said while replying to questions about whether the state's Biju Pucca Ghar logo will also be attached to that of the PMAY.

As per the provision of the PMAY, the unit cost of the scheme is Rs 1,20,000 and Rs 1,30,000 per house for plain and hilly areas respectively, official sources said.