Giriraj Singh targets Odisha govt, says deserving beneficiaries deprived of PMAY houses
Centre is bound to give funds to states in a federal structure
By Sukant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, April 15: Union rural development and panchayati raj minister Giriraj Singh on Friday accused the Odisha government of resorting to favouritism and alleged that deserving beneficiaries were getting deprived of the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the state.
Mr Singh, who reached Odisha in the morning on a two-day trip, said that the state was allotted only Rs 26,000 crore by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in eight years but even though the BJP government sanctioned more than that, the genuine beneficiaries continued to suffer.
“The UPA government gave only Rs 26,000 crore to Odisha for development purposes in eight years from my department while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us Rs 1 lakh crore for the state. I want to provide houses to the poor in the state. Putting aside all the rules, we even provided 38 lakh houses to Odisha. Surprisingly, we find that deserving beneficiaries are being left out,” said the Union minister.
He further said that extremist and fundamentalist forces are now raising heads in a peaceful state like Odisha and stones are now being pelted at ‘sobhayatras’ taken out on auspicious occasions like Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami. “It’s not acceptable for Odisha and the country,” said the Union minister.
The minister was referring to the violence erupted during a Hanuman Jayanti motorcycle rally in Sambalpur recently that left at least 10 police personnel injured.
Responding to the allegations of Mr Singh, ruling BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra said that the Centre is bound to give funds to states in a federal structure.
“The Union minister should refrain from making such careless and frivolous allegations. In a federal structure, the Union government is mandated to meet its obligations and honour the constitutional arrangements. Getting PMAY houses is our due and the Union government is just fulfilling this commitment,” he said.
