Following A report in The Pioneer about the bribe taken by Panchayat officials from two poor women in Sabdega block in Sundargarh for allotting house under the Biju Pucca Ghar and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the Superintendent of Police, Vigilance, Sambalpur has ordered Vigilance DSP, Sundargarh for an inquiry into it and take action against the corrupt persons.
Sources said Jasmita Kulu, a resident of Sudharshanpur village under Sabdega block, had been sanctioned Rs 75,000 under the the Indira Awas Scheme during 2015-16. She had started making her house but she could not make concrete roof due to shortage of money and she had done the roofing with asbestos. She fell short of Rs 15,000 because she had been told by the panchayat officials to give them Rs 15,000 as bribe and Jasmita with great difficulty paid it off. Out of Rs 15,000, the Sarpanch had taken Rs 7,000, the Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) had taken Rs 5,000 and the Gram Rojgar Sevak had taken Rs 3,000.
Similarly, another poor widow of Sabdega block recently alleged that her name had been recommended in Gram Sabha to get the Biju Pakka Ghar but the Panchayat officials had demanded Rs 20,000 from her to sanction the Biju Pakka Ghar for her. Finding no other alternative, she had to sell away her two goats and gave Rs 20,000 to the Panchayat officials for sanctioning a house. Following the report in The Pioneer on June 22 about the bribe taken from these two poor women and about the massive corruption in housing schemes in Sundargarh district, Vigilance SP Sambalpur J Nayak ordered DSP P Kishan for an inquiry.