BJP Flays Odisha Govt For Delay In Allotment Of Pucca Houses

Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Sunday came down heavily on the Odisha government for the inordinate delay in allotment of pucca houses to the poor beneficiaries.

Talking to mediapersons here, BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the state government had prepared a list of 27,49,617 beneficiaries for allotment of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY). After the BJP alleged that the list is prepared on party basis, the list was later verified and 13,65,025 beneficiaries were found illegible. The state government later announced that a final list will be published on December 31. Though the state government extended the deadline to January 15, the final list of beneficiaries is yet to be published.

“While the state government is yet to provide homestead land to 43,000 beneficiaries, it has announced to provide pucca houses to 20 lakh beneficiaries within three years. Without determining the exact number of beneficiaries, how could the government announced disbursement of 20 lakh houses?” Harichandan asked.

Stating that the state government is trying to rename the PMAY as the state-sponsored programme, he warned it to refrain from such activities failing which there will be a massive protest across the state in the coming days.

“We demand that the state government should clearly come up with a detailed list of pucca houses to be disbursed under the PMAY, BPGY and District Mineral Fund (DMF) and place these lists in the offices of each panchayat. Besides, the state government should announce Rs 40,000 crore budget for 20 lakh pucca houses,” the BJP leader pointed out.

Refuting the allegations, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said while the Centre has felicitated Odisha for the successful implementation of PMAY, the state BJP leaders are trying to mislead the people by providing false information. “If the BJP leaders do not refrain from such misinformation campaign, they will lose the trust of the people of Odisha,” he maintained.