The Vigilance department has initiated a probe into alleged large-scale financial irregularities in procuring plaques for the Awas Yojana.
Reports said a scam to the tune of crores of rupees has taken place in the district for these plaques which are fixed on the houses provided to the beneficiaries under the Biju Pakka Ghar Yojana (BPGY) and Prime Minister Awas Yojna (PMAY).
For the standard of plaque size to be fixed as specified by the department, the district has procured them at Rs 437 per plate. It may be noted similar plaques have been procured in other districts i.e. Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj and Nabarangpur at Rs 50, Rs 90 and Rs 70 respectively.
The department directive states that the plaques could be either of marble or ceramic plate. The size should be 15 by 15 inches. It is further alleged that in the district only marble plates were procured through a vendor after a tendering process and the thickness of marble plates was 6 mm.
To procure these plaques the Block Development Officers (BDO) are empowered to invite tender. Yet in the case of Baleswar district, they were procured centrally by the Project Director (PD) DRDA. The price of such marble plates could be around Rs 50-60 but in the district, it is being procured at least at 8 times more the price.
Notably, between 2014 and 2021, nearly 1.8 lakh houses under the housing schemes have been constructed. It is alleged that if several senior officials including the BDOs had not connived, such a mega scam could not have taken place at the level of the PD DRDA only.
Meanwhile, the president Zilla Parishad has sought clarifications from 12 BDOs in this connection.