Muktsar:
In the Muktsar district of Punjab, thousands of poor families in several villages are still awaiting help from the state government to either repair or construct their houses. On paper, they are the beneficiaries of a Rs 40-crore grant by the Parkash Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government for the construction of houses. But an investigation by NDTV has revealed that most of these funds may have been siphoned off as several of these villagers did not even receive a penny.
In the season of scams, this seems to be the latest that has played out in Chief Minister Badal's constituency of Lambi. A lion's share of the housing grant meant for the poor was allocated to villages in Mr Badal's constituency. Activists allege that the money was released to the Muktsar District Collector in great haste under the orders of the Chief Minister just before the model code of conduct kicked in for the assembly elections last year. Mr Badal had managed to beat the anti-incumbency factor to lead the Akali Dal-BJP combine back to power for the second consecutive term.
"It was done in a planned manner...a notification was issued giving all powers to the chief minister...there was an understanding between the chief minister and the Muktsar DC in a hurry because model code conduct would come into play...money was taken out," said HC Arora, Senior Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Documents acquired through Right to Information (RTI) reveals that between January 2011 and March 2012, over 19,000 families benefited from the grant. Of these, over 6,000 families were given at least Rs 35,000 for construction of 'kutcha' houses while over 13,000 families got Rs 15,000 each for repairing their houses.
But when NDTV dug deeper, it found a completely different story. A visit to at least half a dozen villages in Muktsar revealed that some families got only Rs 15-18,000 worth of construction material as opposed to Rs 35,000 as was promised. Several others got a cheque of only Rs 5,000 while some are yet to receive any money.
"We had to arrange money on our own to complete construction...government had promised 10-15,000 more, but we never got it," said Shabeg Singh, a resident of the Kattian Wali village. Another from the Lambi village said, "I never got any money...other people have got but not our family...we applied many times but didn't get any."
The villagers allege that Akali Dal workers made a windfall by supplying sub-standard building material.
Even the Chief Minister's constituency, which allegedly is the biggest benefactor of the grant, also seems to have not been spared of this scam. The government claims that it constructed houses for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in two villages in Mr Badal's constituency of Lambi. But while Rs 2.15 crore was sanctioned for the project, several houses were left incomplete or were badly constructed.
The Congress has now demanded an independent probe into the alleged irregularities. "The entire money has been spent in the two assembly segments of the Chief Minister, Lambi and Giddarbaha...money has been embezzled, misappropriated...given to Akali workers...all the money has been diverted for electoral gains...and the Congress demands a CBI enquiry into the matter," said Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Spokesperson of the Punjab Congress.
The chief minister, though, stoutly denied all allegations. "All the records are with the DC concerned...Opposition has no other work but to keep levelling baseless allegations," Mr Badal said.
The denials of the chief minister notwithstanding, the documents obtained through RTI have raised serious questions. Fro starters, the Muktsar District Collector, despite the obvious lack of progress in the housing project, was released 12 installments from the grant by the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) without asking for the necessary paperwork. Secondly, Collectors, as per guidelines, are required to submit utilisation certificates after grants have been released, something that wasn't done.