Genuine beneficiaries of Awas Yojana suffering in Odisha: Union Minister Giriraj Singh

Accusing the Odisha government of resorting to favouritism, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday alleged that deserving beneficiaries are getting deprived of the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the State.

Giriraj Singh, who reached Odisha today on a two-day tour, said that the State was allotted only Rs 26000 crore by the UPA government in 8 years but even though the BJP government is sanctioning much more than that, the genuine beneficiaries continue to suffer.

"The UPA government gave only Rs 26000 crore to Odisha for development purposes in eight years from my department (Rural Development & Panchayati Raj) while PM Modi has given us Rs 1 lakh crore for the State. I want to provide houses to the poor in the State. Putting aside all the rules, we even provided 38 lakh houses to Odisha," said Singh.

He further said that extremist and fundamentalist forces are now raising heads in a peaceful state like Odisha and stones are now being pelted at 'sobhayatras' taken out on auspicious occasions like Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami. "It's not acceptable for Odisha and the country," said the Union Minister. 

The Minister was referring to the violence erupted during a Hanuman Jayanti motorcycle rally in Sambalpur recently that left at least 10 police personnel injured. 

Responding to the allegations of Singh, ruling BJD MLA Debi Mishra said that the Centre is bound to give funds to states in a federal structure. “The Union Minister should refrain from making such careless and frivolous allegations,” he said.