The local officials in Dungarpur and Udaipur have added many influential and well-off people to the list of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) beneficiaries (Awaas+) in an unauthorised manner during the preliminary survey.
Due to this, many eligible beneficiaries, for being poor, have been left out of the scheme, a review report of rural development and panchayati raj minister Ramesh Chand Meena’s visit to Dungarpur and Udaipur districts has revealed.
In view of this, the report on Dungarpur and Udaipur districts has recommended a review of the PMAY-G survey in the whole state.
“Around 7.64 lakh families (in the state) have been deprived of the scheme because of this. In 2019, a survey (of nearly 24 lakh families) was conducted in the state to identify those eligible families who had been left out of the scheme. During the review of PMAY-G (in these two districts), it was found that many poor eligible beneficiaries were replaced with well-off and influential people,” said an official, who was part of the team. “It was found that the local officials were bribed to replace names of poor beneficiaries with influential people on the list,” the official added.
According to officials, of around 24 lakh families surveyed in the state, nearly 17 lakh families were added to the software. “However, this exercise led to the removal of 7.64 lakh poor families (in Rajasthan) from the beneficiary list, and these were replaced with new names. It also shows the lack of monitoring and inspection of the survey at the state level. The government of India was aware of this exercise and, therefore, it refused to grant permission to add the remaining names (7.64 lakh families) to the software. “Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a re-examination or review of the survey in the whole state,” the report has recommended.