While Panchayati Raj Minister Pradeep Maharathy stated in a written reply in the State Assembly that the Centre is yet to release Rs 2,885.40 crore under MGNREGA, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram countered that the State government has been unable to utilise allocated funds.
Maharathy further stated that the Centre in 2017-18 financial year alone has not released Rs 335.89 crore to the State.
“From 2011-2012 to 2017-18, the Centre has not released around 25.99% funds,” said Maharathy adding that the State is trying hard to ensure job card holders get payment for their work as soon as possible.
Slamming the State government, Oram mentioned, “The Centre wants utilisation certificates of the work. The State can ask for more funds only after submission of utilisation certificates. If the State government says less money has been released, let it come out with a white paper.”
Crores of funds under MGNREGA for all the districts are lying unutilised, he claimed.
On the other hand, many job card holders complain that they have not received wages for work done under the MGNREGA scheme.
“I have worked under the MGNREGA scheme at Dabajharana Kata in Barkote of Deogarh district. Since three months we have not received wages for the work done. Despite my repeated visit to the Kantapali bank, which is 15 kms away from my village, I am returning empty-handed,” said Bharati Nayak, an MGNREGA beneficiary.
Similar reports have also surfaced in Lamtaput block of Koraput district where as many as 40 beneficiaries are yet to get their dues.
“It has been eight months since we have completed work under the scheme. Whenever we asked for our pending dues, the authorities told us approach the district administration,” stated Purba Jani, another job card holder.
It has been alleged that more than Rs 80 lakh have been allocated to as many as 60 deserving persons in 14 panchayats of Chandbali in Bhadrak district under PMAY but the actual beneficiaries been deprived of the housing loans.
Among the defaulters, some have availed Rs 1.2 lakhs in four installments, while others took Rs 90,000 in three installments for construction of houses under PMAY.
The reports in the website of Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, revealed that for construction of houses lakhs of rupees have been allocated to four people identified as Sapana Das of Dosinga, Niranjan Thatoi of Kandagaradi and Rabindra Sethi and Minati Rout of Orasahi of the district.
Surprisingly, the data also shows the pictures of their old thatched house with a new building, but in reality, some live in kutcha houses with a thatched roof, and others reside in pucca houses, which are yet to be constructed completely.
“My brother informed the matter to me. He said that someone else has availed funds under PMAY in my name. When I reached my village, I found those allegations true. I am poor, how will I build my house now,” alleged Sapana Das, a PMAY beneficiary.
It has further been alleged that someone might have submitted fake documents in the name of the beneficiaries to avail the loans.
“The fund allocated in my name has been transferred to someone else’s account. The BDO and the Sarpanch have assured me saying that the problem will be resolved. My house is still incomplete and I am forced to stay under open sky,” said Rabindra Sethi while narrating his plight.
Meanwhile, the panchayat authorities informed that the Gram Rozgar Sevak (GRS) has prepared the bills for allotment of the houses under the central scheme and the Block Development Officer (BDO) would take action into the alleged irregularities.
“I was unaware of the issue. When I asked the GRS, he replied that the lapses were due to some mistakes in the names. I have not prepared the bills there,” said Rajnikant Bal, Executive Officer of Dosinga gram panchayat.
On the other hand, the BDO stated that a couple of allegations of such kind had come to fore in 2016-17 and the matter was resolved then and further said if any such complaints resurface, investigation will be initiated.
“Construction of more than 3,000 houses was targeted in Chandbali. As the documentation work was being done by officers outside the area, there might be some errors in allotment and sanctioning of the funds. So far we have located six errors,” informed Manoj Das, Chandbali BDO.
Gyan Das, Bhadrak District Collector said, “There are a couple of people residing there in the same name and village. While both the persons with same names have been registered under the scheme, money to be received by the actual beneficiary has been transferred to the others’ bank account.”
He added that as the mistakes are due to same names of different individuals, the matter is being investigated and money will be transferred to the original beneficiary at the earliest.
Explaining mediapersons, Pradhan said, “The 15th Finance Commission has given 17 percent weightage to the 1971 census data and 10 percent weightage to the 2011 data. This is not for the first time that the recommendations are being made on basis of 2011 census figures. The 14th Finance Commission too had used the 2011 data for fund allocation. In fact, Odisha will get more funds if the Commission uses data based on 2011 census,” he said adding that the state has performed well in birth control as per the 2011 census data.
"As compared to 1971, Odisha has achieved better targets in 2011 because its population figures have stabilised,” Pradhan said.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the ToR of the 15th Finance Commission may adversely impact devolution of resources to the State. He had sought the personal intervention of the Prime Minister to ensure that the Finance Commission uses population data of the 1971 census instead of that of 2011 while making its recommendations.Patnaik had said that the flow of funds to the State will decline during the 15th Finance Commission if the Centre adopts 2011 census data.
Commenting on the development, BJD vice president Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Other States have also raised similar questions. The Chief Minister’s concern is how Odisha gets more allocation to catch up with other States.”