West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday set November 30 as the deadline for ineligible beneficiaries of the state's rural housing scheme to return funds received in violation of eligibility norms, warning of stringent legal action against those who fail to comply.
He also ordered a CID investigation through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into 57,000 suspected fictitious beneficiaries detected during a field verification exercise, alleging large-scale irregularities in the disbursement of public funds.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna, Adhikari said government officials found to have facilitated the irregularities would also face strict action, including departmental proceedings.
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
"As stated by Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, 57,000 fake beneficiaries had applied illegally under the previous government's Banglar Bari project and were delisted. We have already identified 12,000 among them who received the money and have asked them to return the amount. While 1,000 have returned the money, I ask the rest to do the same by the end of this month," he said.
"You must return the money by November 30 and spare yourselves possible legal complications. We will not allow you to retain this money. You have to return it because you are not eligible beneficiaries," the chief minister added.
Adhikari said the more serious concern was the detection of suspected fictitious beneficiaries whose existence could not be established during field verification.
There were allegations that fraudulent bank accounts had been opened in the names of deceased or relocated individuals to siphon off government assistance.
"There will be legal action against these 57,000 cases. We have to find out how Rs 60,000 of public money reached each of their accounts," he said.
The chief minister said the CID would investigate who had recommended these names for inclusion in the beneficiary list and whether officials at different administrative levels had facilitated the alleged fraud.
An SIT would be constituted to oversee the investigation.
"Officials who facilitated these beneficiaries in fraudulently obtaining monetary assistance will be identified and action will be taken against them," Adhikari said.
He also announced the constitution of a committee headed by retired judge Biswajit Basu to examine corruption and misuse of public funds across different levels of the state administration.
The government had also reactivated the state Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), which, according to Adhikari, had remained largely inactive for a prolonged period.
๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ,๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ
The announcements coincided with the disbursement of the second instalment of financial assistance under the West Bengal Awas scheme, with the state government transferring Rs 4,201.026 crore through RTGS to the bank accounts of 7,00,171 beneficiaries.
Of these, 180 beneficiaries attended the programme at Nabanna Sabhaghar, while others participated virtually.
With Friday's disbursement, the government released a total of Rs 10,323 crore as the second instalment to around 17.21 lakh eligible beneficiaries during the current phase of the scheme.
Each beneficiary is entitled to Rs 60,000 as the second instalment to complete construction of houses sanctioned under the programme.
Earlier, on August 6, approximately 10.20 lakh beneficiaries received around Rs 6,122 crore in the first phase of disbursement.
The scheme, previously known as Banglar Bari under the Mamata Banerjee-led government, was renamed West Bengal Awas by the present administration.
๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ
Accusing the previous MAITC government of politicising the rural housing scheme, Adhikari said the former administration had claimed that beneficiaries would lose financial assistance if the BJP came to power.
"They had falsely claimed that 18-19 lakh people covered under their Banglar Bari project would not get money if the BJP came to power," he said.
"But we proved that wrong as we don't believe in discriminating on the basis of political affiliation, caste or community," he added.
The chief minister also directed district magistrates to monitor the prices of construction materials, particularly bricks and sand, to prevent beneficiaries from being overcharged.
Officials were instructed to ensure that sand was available to beneficiaries at prices not exceeding Rs 1,200.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Referring to the PM Surya Ghar scheme, Adhikari said the state had received 1.1 lakh units and encouraged rural households to install rooftop solar panels to reduce electricity expenses.
Under the scheme, central subsidies of Rs 30,000, Rs 60,000 and Rs 78,000 are available for installations of 1 kW, 2 kW and 3 kW capacity, respectively.
The state government will provide an additional Rs 15,000 to beneficiaries belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Adhikari also announced that around 8,000 employees would be recruited in the panchayat department, subject to cabinet approval.
He said 1.65 crore women had benefited from Annapurna Yojana and that verification of OBC beneficiaries would be completed by December 1.
๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh said beneficiaries would receive an additional Rs 27,000 towards wages for 90 to 95 days of work under the VB-G RAM G scheme, besides Rs 12,000 for toilet construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The combined assistance for house construction and related facilities would amount to approximately Rs 1.5 lakh, he added.
The housing scheme also facilitates convergence with central and state government programmes to provide eligible households with essential amenities, including safe drinking water, subsidised electricity and LPG connections.
According to Ghosh, 1.74 lakh beneficiaries have already completed construction of their houses during the current phase, while the remaining houses are expected to be completed by March 2027.