Mrunal Manmay Dash

Bhubaneswar: The Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department of Odisha government has directed all the Project Directors of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) to facilitate Rural Housing scheme beneficiaries sanctioned houses prior to 2016-17 in house completion.

As per reports, the Director of Panchayati Raj Department, Rajesh Prabhakar Patil issued a letter in this regard to all the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Project Directors.

The rule will be applicable for the defaulting beneficiaries before 2016-17 who received money under any of the housing schemes of the government but couldn’t construct a house to facilitate their house building.

The department mentioned that many beneficiaries sanctioned with houses prior to 2016-17 find it difficult to complete the house construction because of the then low unit cost of the house. The concerned BDOs were also requested to sensitize these beneficiaries for paying back their paid amount in order to become eligible for future sanction of houses.

However, these beneficiaries are at liberty to refund the paid amount to the BDOs. If they pay it back, they can receive fresh grants under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and if they decide not to pay back then they won’t get any more housing grants.

The local BDOs would deposit the amount with the Block’s contingency account under PMAY (G) and refund the same to the state nodal account as and when intimated by the department.

The department has also directed to launch a widespread awareness campaign in this regard, further mentioning that the local SHGs should be roped in to assist by sensitising beneficiaries through door to door campaigning. The names of those defaulting beneficiaries are also available in the portal of the department.

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