Lok Sabha Question No. 2273 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-14
Subject: Irregularities Reported under PMAY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Bhartruhari Mahtab

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2273 ANSWERED ON 14/03/2023

## IRREGULARITIES REPORTED UNDER PMAY

## 2273. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of any irregularity reported under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) during the last three years in Odisha;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has carried out any inquiry in this regard;
- (d) if so, the details thereof including the outcome; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to check such irregularities in future?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)  to  (b)  Yes  Sir.  A  joint  representation  of  9  Members  of  Parliament  on  the  alleged irregularities  in  implementation  of  Pradhan  MantriAwaasYojana-Gramin  (PMAY-G)  in Odisha was received on 12.02.2020. The major irregularities alleged were:

- i. 85% of the 12.85 lakh PMAY-G beneficiaries in Odisha are ineligible for the Scheme and majority of funds have been mis-utilised for personal gains.
- ii. Multiple members of the same family have been granted houses under the scheme and families  whose  applications  were  rejected  in  2018-19  have  been  allotted  houses  in 2019-20.
- iii. No  mention  of  the  Scheme  as  'Pradhan  MantriAwaasYojana-Gramin',  a  Central scheme at the ground level.
- iv. The State Government has not made any budgetary provision under PMAY-G for last three years.
- v. The Central  Government had sanctioned PMAY-G Assistance for 3.89 lakh houses damaged  by  cyclone  'Fani'  and  that  large  irregularities  have  been  reported  in selection of beneficiaries in this category.
- vi. A list  of  831  ineligible  beneficiaries  having  been  allocated  houses  under  PMAY-G was shared.

In another complaint  received  on  26.12.2020,  it was  alleged  that the logo of Biju PuccaGharYojana (BPGY) is being affixed on the PMAY-G houses and the size of (BPGY) logo is bigger than that of PMAY-G. It was also alleged that the houses constructed under PMAY-G are being shown as houses constructed under BPGY.

(c)  &  (d) The complaint was forwarded to the State Government of Odisha for conducting enquiry  and  for  furnishing  an  Action  Taken  Report.  The  State  Government  of  Odisha, submitted the following interim report vide letter dated 02.02.2021:

- i. that out of 775 ineligible beneficiaries in FANI affected districts alleged to have been identified as eligible in Awaas+, registration, geo-tagging and aadhaar seeding have been completed in respect of only 79 eligible beneficiaries. The remaining 696 from the  list  were  not  found  eligible  and  therefore  their  names  were  not  registered  in Awaas+.
- ii. that out of 56 PMAY-G beneficiaries alleged to be irregularly selected, 39 have been sanctioned houses. Irregularities in selection were detected in 4 cases for which the Collector,  Khurda  has  placed  Rabindra  Kumar  Panda,  PEO  Begunia  Block  under suspension and FIR has also been lodged against three villagers for involvement in illegal selection. Recovery proceedings of paid amount have already been initiated.
- iii. that in respect of allegation for not making budgetary provision under PMAY-G,there is  no  pendency  in  drawal  of  matching  State  Share  and  the  state  has  always  made adequate budgetary provision.
- iv. that in respect of allegation of attempt by the State to rename the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), no such attempt has ever been made. State Government had decided to Co-Brand the PMAY-G houses by affixing logo of both PMAY-G and BPGY as State also invests 40% as matching State Share under PMAY-G.

The  branding  of  PMAY-G  houses  as  PMAY-G-BPGY  houses  without  seeking  any approval/permission of the Ministry has been viewed seriously and the Ministry vide letter dated 08.02.2021 requested the Chief Secretary, Odisha to intervene and direct the officials concerned for displaying the logo of PMAY-G prominently and to refrain from using BPGY logo on PMAY-G houses.

In addition, the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India constituted a Central Team which visited the State during 9th-11th February, 2021 to conduct inquiry and the team submitted  its  report.  The  major  findings  of  the  report  were  lack  of  PMAY-G  logo,  poor quality  of  construction,  incomplete  houses  shown  as  completed  in  MIS  of  the  PMAY-G, houses sanctioned to ineligible beneficiaries, etc.

On the basis of these findings, the Ministry requested the State Government of Odisha to take the  following  actions  immediately  to  ensure  that  perpetrators  of  the  fraud  and  their collaborators  are  dealt  with  sternly,  and  to  submit  an  Action  Taken  Report  (ATR)  at  the earliest:

- i. FIR be filed against the erring officials immediately.
- ii. To  take  action  against  the  BDO,  the  second  signatory  of  the  FTOs  and  other supervisors who certified and inspected the houses.
- iii. Show cause be served  against  the  concerned  district  officials  for  not  taking  timely stern action against the erring officials.
- iv. The State government to widely publicize the action taken in the matter including on social media.
- v. The  State  Government  may  tone  up  its  administrative  machinery  so  that  such incidences are not repeated in future.

The State Government of Odisha had submitted the Action Taken Report on the findings of the  report  of  the  Central  Team  to  the  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  on  20.07.2021.  On examination,  the  ATR  submitted  by  the  State  Government  was  found  to  be  unsatisfactory and, therefore, it has not been accepted by the Ministry. It was once again decided to depute another  Central  Team  to  the  State  to  enquire  into  whether  the  State  has  actually  taken corrective measures or not. The 2nd Central Team visited the State of Odisha during 2nd-4th March,  2022.  During  the  2nd  visit,  it  was  observed  that  though  the  State  has  taken  a  few corrective measures in respect of houses inspected in the 1st visit, however, the situation in other houses in the same GP remains as it is; i.e., despite clear cut advisory of having PMAYG logo only, the logo of Biju PakkaGhar continues to be there and in most of the cases more prominent than PMAY-G logo. Construction quality continues to be poor. Awaas+ survey has  not  been  conducted  properly.  Inspection  by  State  Government  functionaries  is  almost negligible and social audit of the scheme is not being conducted. The report of the 2 nd team has been shared with the State Government vide letter dated 17.03.2022 with directions to ensure that the guidelines of PMAY-G and those conveyed in this connection specifically are scrupulously observed and anomalies as reported are corrected across the board in the whole state, instead of only targeting the houses which have been referred in the report by the team.

The  State  Government  of  Odisha  was  reminded  to  furnish  the  ATR  vide  letters  dated 07.06.22 and 08.06.2022.  The Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha had vide letter dated 21.07.2022  submitted  the  action  taken  by  the  State  Government  on  the  findings  of   2nd Central Government Team which visited the State during the 2nd - 4th March, 2022.  The ATR submitted by the State Government was examined in the Ministry and the following observations have been made:

- i. The State was advised to file FIR against the erring officials, to take action against the BDOs,  the  2nd  signatory  of  FTOs  and  other  supervisors  and  to  issue  show  case against the district officials. The State Government has reported action against various officials,  however,  the  details  of  officials  against  whom  actions  have  been  initiated has not been shared.
- ii. In earlier report dated 20.07.2021, the State Govt. submitted that Shri Sanjay Sahoo, Tangi block received 1st installment and was subsequently detected as ineligible as his father had already been sanctioned house under erstwhile IAY. The State had also informed  that  the  matter  is  being  examined  by  Collector,  Khordha.  In  the  present report, the State has submitted contradictory information that all the installments have been released to Shri Sanjay Sahoo.
- iii. With  regard  to  observation  of  the  Central  Team  about  poor  quality  of  house construction  is  concerned,  the  State  Govt.  has  submitted  that  the  efforts  of  their Department have led to improvement of quality of PMAY-G houses which has been acknowledged by the National  Level  Monitoring  (NLM)  Team  report  dated  07-062022.

In  view  of  the  above,  the  State  Government  was  requested  vide  letter  dated  04.08.2022  to furnish  a  detailed  report  with  documents/reports  on  point  (i)  and  the  inquiry  report  of Collector, Khordha finding Shri Sanjay Sahoo as eligible under PMAY-G on point (ii) above. The State replied vide letter dated 22.08.2022 submitted of having disengaged 22 officials, suspended 44 officials, served show cause notice to 268 officials & draft charged 35 officials for laxity in PMAY(G) implementation and that Collector, Khordha on enquiry revoked the cancellation of work order and Sri Sahoo was paid entire housing assistance on completion of his house.

Further,  a  meeting  was  also  held  under  the  chairmanship  of  Hon'ble  Minister  Rural Development and Panchayati Raj with Rural Development  Minister, State Government of Odisha  on  11.08.2022.  The  State  Rural  Development  Minister  informed  that  the  state government is implementing the scheme in a transparent manner adhering to the guidelines and using IT applications. He assured that transparency measures will be further strengthened.  He  emphasized  that  the  state  government  has  zero  tolerance  towards  corrupt practices/irregularities.  After  detailed  discussion,  the  ministry  agreed  to  the  request  of  the state  Government of Odisha for allowing the synchronization of the data captured through state's RH portal by the closing date of Awaas+ exercise and national database . The Ministry had  also  approved  Special  project  for  1,42,005  FANI  affected  households  in  14  FANI affected districts vide letter dated 13 th December, 2022 .

On detailed examination of all the ATRs submitted by the State, the submission of the State Govt. was accepted by the Ministry and a final reply was given to the concerned MPs vide letter dated 28.10.2022. (e)        Under PMAY-G there is a grievance redressal mechanism set up at different levels of administration viz., Gram Panchayat, Block, District and the State. An official of the State Government  is  to  be  designated  at  each  level  to  ensure  disposal  of  grievances  to  the satisfaction  of  the  complainant.  In  addition,  the  Ministry  has  also  engaged  the  services  of Ombudsperson  appointed  under  MGNREGA  and  the  State  Level  Appellate  Authority  for receiving grievances, enquiring and passing awards. Further,  there  is  a  system  of  regular  monitoring  through  National  Level  Monitors  (NLMs) and wherever necessary special monitoring is also conducted. The report thus received from such Central Teams/NLMs is shared with the concerned State for taking corrective measures as per the guidelines of PMAY-G.

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