Assam: Locals of Hailakandi district allege malpractice in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Massive corruption and irregularities have been levelled upon the Hailakandi district administration in the name of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. 

The discrepancy has come to light in the list of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana that has already been published in the district in 2018. 

Allegedly, the names of hundreds of very poor homeless people have been cut from the lists published in various gram panchayats of Hailakandi. 

Meanwhile, deprived of the Yojana, people staged a massive protest in Hailakandi demanding that the list be published again and demanded re-work on geo tracking. 

Speaking to the media one of the protestors said, "As per the 2018 beneficiary list of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at least 1600 people's names were there but now we can see only 200 people."

Also Read: Assam awarded "Most Improved State" under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) NE region

Notably, hundreds of people led by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) organised the protest from 12 noon on December 12. 

They took out a protest rally and gheraoed the office of the local Zilla Parishad and came forward with a plan to stage a protest, however, the district administration and police stopped the protest halfway. 

On the other hand, the protest ended after Hailakandi headquarters officer David Bora arrived at the protest site and assured that appropriate action would be taken after a due meeting with concerned authorities.

Earlier, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the government of India awarded Assam as the Most Improved State under PMAY(U) North-Eastern region in the special awards category.

The award has been catered under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Awards 2021.

Further to this, Bilasipara Municipal Council in Assam has bagged the second position in the Best Performing Municipal Council category among the North-Eastern and Hilly States under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Awards-2021.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India instituted the 'PMAY-U Awards for Implementation and Innovation' under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) in the year 2019.