At a time when the state government’s ‘Mo Ghara’ has failed to instill any interest among the rural beneficiaries, the government has come up with guidelines for the beneficiaries in urban areas. This has provided a peg to the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to hang their attacks on the ruling BJD dispensation.
As per the information shared by the government, the ‘Mo Ghara’ scheme was launched with the aim to provide houses to at least 4 lakh beneficiaries, with an outlay of Rs 2,150 crore. The scheme was announced on June 3 and applications were sought from June 16. But, considering the target, the response is not satisfactory, with the number of applications in some districts not reaching the four-digit number.
While the lowest number of applications was received from Gajapati district, the highest number of applications was received from Puri district. From coastal districts like Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Puri, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, and Jagatsinghpur, over 10,000 applications have been received.
Out of the total 1,14,873 applications received, field verification of over 14,218 applications has been completed while plans and estimations of 7,747 beneficiaries have been uploaded.
Most importantly, the bank has approved the loans of only 4,666 beneficiaries. And, 1,10,210 applications are still lying at block levels. While 1,88,560 beneficiaries have registered themselves to apply, the government hasn’t received over 73,000 applications.
“I had applied for a house under ‘Mo Ghara’ yojana. I submitted my PAN card and Income Certificate. Now the bank is asking for a mortgage,” rued Gurunath Dalei, a resident of Chitrakonda area.
Echoing the same, a Gunupur resident, Suman Sabar said, “The bank is asking for the land documents to sanction the loan.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP and Congress targeted the BJD over the poor response to the scheme.
“It is a failure. The success of ‘Mo Ghara’ yojana entirely hinges on the whims of a bank. If the property mortgaged by a beneficiary has no market value, the bank will not sanction the loan. It is a common bank procedure,” said state BJP general secretary, Prithviraj Harichandan.
“It is nothing but a drama. They (the BJD) are misleading the people. People are reluctant to receive a house under ‘Mo Ghara’ yojana as they will be asked for a bribe or to pledge their property as a mortgage,” said Congress leader Suresh Routray.
In his response, BJD MLA Rajkishore Nayak said, “As per my knowledge, people are interested to get houses under ‘Mo Ghara’ yojana. The bank authorities are also extending their cooperation.”
It is alleged that the government brought ‘Mo Ghara’ scheme to woo voters ahead of the 2024 general elections. But it seems that the scheme’s ground reality has turned out to be a headache for the BJD.