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Protesting against massive irregularities in the allocation of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ( PMAY), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday took out a rally from Samantarapur Chowk to the block office in Bhubaneswar. They had a scuffle with the police as they tried to force their way into the block office.
The State unit of the Saffron party has been cornering the State government alleging large-scale irregularities in awarding houses to beneficiaries under PMAY.
As a part of this, leaders and workers of the party took out a rally from Samantarapur Chowk and marched towards the block office, shouting slogans against the BJD-led government. The rally culminated at the block office with a demonstration.
Later, the agitators tried to enter the block office forcibly, leading to a scuffle between the policemen deployed at the office.
“With an aim to see a roof over the heads of poor people, the Prime Minister has already allocated over 27 lakh houses. But here the 23-year-old government is distributing houses among its own workers. Those who have buildings are getting houses,” alleged the president of BJP Bhubaneswar district, Babu Singh.
Launching a scathing attack on the government, BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan said, “Irregularities are going on. But this government is paying no heed to the allegations. It will pay a heavy price in the coming days. People will give a befitting reply in the coming days.”
“The Odisha government had asked for 27,00,000 houses. But the Modi government has given 27,58,000 houses. But the houses have been distributed among the ineligible beneficiaries. Even the houses have been provided to the BJD party workers,” he alleged.
However, Bhubaneswar Block Development Officer (BDO) Sampad Kumar Dalei pacified the agitators and calmed down the situation.
“We had carried out enquiries in every GP by the staff of other GPs. After proper enquiry, we published the beneficiary list. Then complaints were invited. After receiving complaints, we re-enquired and deleted the names of all the ineligible beneficiaries. So, the houses have been sanctioned to eligible beneficiaries only. There is no question of ineligible beneficiaries getting houses,” asserted the BDO.
(Reported by Bibartan Panda, OTV)
