Amid State-Centre tussle, PMAY house distribution process begins in Odisha

In a relief to more than 9.5 lakh beneficiaries, the Odisha government has finally directed the BDOs to distribute work orders for PMAY houses after a delay of five months. The work orders will be distributed online.

It is pertinent to mention here that 9.5 lakh houses were sanctioned by the Centre to be distributed under the PMAY scheme in Odisha. But the homes could not be distributed even after five months owing to a dispute in beneficiary identification.

However, the State government has finally decided to provide work orders reportedly after a lot of pressure from the Opposition. Politics heated up after the Odisha government invited simultaneous applications for subsidized home loans under its Mo Ghara scheme too, which is alleged to be a ploy by the ruling BJD to negate the Central scheme.

“Odisha government did not utilize the homes provided under the PMAY by the Centre for a long period of time. This is a ploy by the BJD-led Odisha govt to swindle money and provide maximum homes to BJD leaders illegally,” alleged, BJP’s Prithviraj Harichandan.

“In fact, they should as well have renamed the 'Mo Ghara' as ‘BJD Ghara’ scheme, because they will give loans only to BJD leaders,” he added.

Replying to the allegations, BJD leader, Amar Satapathy said, “Centre showed many excuses to not provide us homes. The portal did not open for a long period. They provided homes to other States but did not provide any to Odisha when we demanded.”

“The State government has started the Mo Ghara scheme to bypass the bottleneck of the Centre and provide homes to the people of Odisha,” Satapathy added.

Notably, the Odisha government has opened its portal for the people to apply for loans under the Mo Ghara scheme from Friday. Applicants need to register in the portal with their Aadhaar and mobile number.

Following the registration, the forms will be scrutinized by the Panchayat officers and Junior Engineers. The forms will be sent to the banks for loans after approval from the BDO.

It is pertinent to mention here that the BJP and the BJD were at loggerheads over-identification of beneficiaries under the PMAY. It now remains to be seen if the actual beneficiaries get subsidized home loans under the Mo Ghara scheme.