Banihal: Names of hundreds of deserving people have not been included in the list of free houses scheme under the Prime Minister Aawas Plus in Ramban district, due to which there is anger among District and Block Development Councillors and PRIs of Ramban district.
Protests were also carried out against RDD and its Awas plus list circulated a few days back. A number of members from DDC, BDC and Panchayati representatives told Greater Kashmir that on the one hand the deserving people have been registered on online portals with all the required paper formalities three years back by the Rural Development Department but on the other hand names of widows, people living below the poverty line (BPL) registered online for Awas Plus have now been deleted from the list and several panchayats in District Ramban have not been sanctioned even a single house.
They alleged that in the survey conducted by the field staff of the Rural Development Department in Ramban district in 2019, alleged frauds were done and the list was prepared of the people who paid bribes to persons engaged for survey by RDD in Ramban district blocks.
They allegedly said that the names of the deserving beneficiaries including the widows were not included in the survey as they failed to pay bribes and now the same beneficiaries are not included in the list. PRIs said that the list disappointed hundreds of deserving persons in Ramban district.
They added that the deserving persons who have been registered for the last three years are now being deleted from the lists on the pretext of technical error and miss match of Adhar and job cards on the related portal.
DBC Chairman Khari block Sajjad Hussain Hajjam said that ” Not a single deserving person has been included in the list of PM Awas plus out of 547 registered deserving persons from remote Sirachi panchayat of Khari – Maho-Mangit block in district Ramban.”
He said this forced peaceful protests from deserving persons and PRIs at block headquarter Khari in sub division Banihal on Monday.
BDC chairman Khari block further said that 547 eligible people of Panchayat Sirachi were registered in 2019-20 under PMAY, but unfortunately now after many years it has been said by RDD that there is some technical problem on portal and job cards and Aadhar cards of beneficiaries are missing. He said only after completing all the paper formalities the registration process was completed under PMAY in 2019-20 but now beneficiary information is missing from the portal.
Similar complaints have also been received from Block Rajgarh of Ramban district where several Panchayats don’t figure in PMA Plus. Mohammad Shafi Zargar DDC Councilor Rajgarh said that 482 eligible and deserving persons have been registered online from Kumait Panchayat in Rajgarh block but no one out of 482 was named in the list of free houses.
Under pressure from the left out PMAY plus beneficiaries, the PRIs said that the names of the deserving persons are missing from the lists due to the alleged negligence and arbitrariness of the field staff of the Rural Development Department in Ramban district.
The registered persons now deleted from PMA plus lists alleged that a number of underserved people who are financially better are being given free houses with the help of some PR representatives and RDD field staff.
Chairperson of District Development Council Ramban Dr. Shamshada Shan said that the wrongdoings by the Rural Development Department employees in the 2019 survey is responsible for all the problem they are facing today.
She said that the hopes of the deserving people have now been dashed and they are suffering from endless anxiety and disappointment after they did not find their names in the list after 3 long years wait. Dr. Shamshada Shan said that the names of Awas Plus beneficiaries registered through online mode are no longer visible on the portal.
When contacted Assistant Commissioner Development (ACD) Ramban Ashok Singh Katoch said that a survey of deserving people for Awas plus was conducted in December 2018 and over 14500 free houses under Aawas plus are being sanctioned in favour of deserving persons and verification process for the same is underway.