PMAY becomes a scheme of blunders in RDD with commission culture ruling the roost; Administration fails to hold an inquiry
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: RDD Poonch remained in the news on one or other issue related to corruption in various schemes, and in that list comes a scheme called PMAY, which is nothing less than a blunder.
Near the roadside, some PMAY houses were built properly and brought to the notice of the government as a face-saving exercise, but in the far-flung areas, old houses were shown as PMAY houses on paper and claimed to be completed on the ground. Tainted officials of RDD, which include GRS, technical assistants, secy panchayats, REW office, BDO, and ACD offices, have only one agenda, and that is to earn money by foul means. No inquiry was ever ordered against IAY or PMAY houses in various blocks of the Poonch district by successive Deputy Commissioners. Many government employees were also given PMAY houses on paper, but on the ground, old houses were shown as newly built ones, which show that a high-level nexus in the department had been operating for a long time. Those who were given benefits under IAY were again adjusted in PMAY on paper because some people had already built their houses under IAY. If an inquiry is conducted individually beneficiary-wise, panchayat-wise, or block-wise, then a big blunder in crores will come out. Successive Deputy Commissioners paid no heed to the rising level of corruption in the department, for reasons best known to them. Highly placed sources in the department told “POONCH TODAY” that maximum assets were built on paper only. In one of the blocks of Poonch district, an amount of Rs 6 lac was withdrawn in the name of a sports field, but on the ground, nothing was visible. Likewise, many projects under various schemes were built on paper only. One of the big project in Poonch block was captured by a big leader and still in possession of that leader. Just as a face-saving exercise, some projects were shown through media platforms and were also brought to the attention of the government, just to show that the department has done a lot on the ground. Various BDO offices and the office of ACD played foul in most schemes, especially in the scheme of PMAY. The issue of the rising level of open corruption was brought into the public domain by “POONCH TODAY” several times, but those sitting at the helm of affairs in the administration paid no attention, maybe they also got their share behind the curtains. Taking advantage of various blunders, some RTI activists also looted money from shady officials of the RDD when they sought records under some scheme. A retired official of RDD, pleading anonymity, told “POONCH TODAY, “PMAY mein maximum gotala hai. Agar government ACB or CBI ke through inquiry karee panchayat/block wise, toh bahut bada gotala samne ayega.” Despite having full information about blunders of several crores, why has no inquiry been initiated by the administration? This open injustice with government funds shows that RDD has become a money-mining machine for corrupt officials. The commission is the main motto of the majority of tainted employees, including the office of Executive Engineer REW, where 10 to 20% commission under various schemes has become a routine exercise. Some secy panchayats and JEs are in charge of maximum panchayats and were seen indulging in open looting of funds, including through PMAY cases. Despite facing allegations of brazen corruption, the district administration has failed to bring a white paper to the public domain about the claimed developmental activities of the RDD department in creating durable assets. A high-level inquiry panchayat-wise or block-wise from the government is needed, especially in PMAY cases, to book those officials who played fraud and gave wrong reports to the government regarding achieving the PMAY target on the ground. Moreover, those government employees who were given benefits under various schemes of RDD need to be taken to task for playing foul, and those officers, who played a big part in that also need befitting retribution from the government for murdering taxpayers’ money.