Bihar: CAG report reveals rampant corruption in housing scheme

Indira Awaas Yojana, a social welfare programme started to provide homes to the poorest of the poor, has fallen prey to rampant corruption in Bihar, the latest Comptroller and Auditor General report has said.

"Monetary assistance under IAY was provided to two to five beneficiaries against one Below Poverty Line number in nine blocks in Bihar during 2006-11. But the actual accrual of benefits to the targetted recipient was not ensured due to financial indiscipline, ineffective monitoring and lack of physical verification of the houses," the report said.

According to the report, officials paid Rs 28.12 lakh to 117 persons against 50 BPL numbers, which has resulted in irregular payment of Rs 17.80 lakh to 67 persons.

Such irregularities were found in districts including Patna and Gaya. The CAG has pulled the Bihar government over poor implementation of IAY.

In a bid to curb Maoists, the Central government had launched a special package for constructing IAY houses in six districts of Arwal, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jahanabad, Jamui and Rohtas in 2008-9.

In Rohtas, the District Rural Development Agency sanctioned only 9,078 houses against the target of 19,698 during 2009-10 for the construction of houses at the rate of Rs 35,000 per unit.

The story is the same in other districts.

The report said that the implementation of the IAY programme suffered  as permanent waitlist of shelter-less families were never prepared as per the guidelines and IAY houses were sanctioned  ignoring their ranking in the waitlist.

In hundreds of cases, ineligible beneficiaries having pucca houses were provided financial assistance for constructing houses under IAY.

Abdul Bari Siddique, leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly on Wednesday said that there has been loot of public money in the IAY. He added that the State government has failed to utilise Rs 53.34 crore granted by the Centre for acquisition of land for allotment to BPL families.

Last year, rampant corruption and loss of money through forgery by a middleman led a Mahadalit man, his wife and three children to commit suicide in Aurangabad district.

Rambachan Rajvansi, a 30-year-old Mahadalit, doused his wife, two daughters, and son with kerosene and set them on fire before killing himself.

This incident exposed rampant corruption and forgery by middleman of funds allocated for houses under Indira Awaas Yojana to the poor in Bihar.

In February this year, the State government dismissed six Bihar Administrative Service cadre officials for their involvement in the scam in Araria district.