KENDRAPARA: Large-scale irregularities under Harishchandra Sahayata Yojana (HSY) have come to the fore in Kurunti panchayat under Rajnagar block after some villagers approached the block development officer on Thursday alleging that the funds meant for families of deceased persons are being misappropriated by falsely declaring them dead.
Eleven living persons have been pronounced dead since March and the money granted in their names for funeral expenses has been misutilised with the collusion of panchayat body members, the villagers claimed while demanding a probe into the scheme.
The state government had launched Harishchandra Sahayata Yojana four years back to benefit poor people who can’t afford to do a cremation. Under the scheme, a sum of Rs 2,000 is provided to the family of the deceased.
However, locals in Kurunti panchayat alleged that unscrupulous authorities are siphoning off these funds by falsely declaring living persons as dead. Pravat Kumar Swain, an auto-rickshaw driver in Kurunti village said he was shocked to his name in the deceased category when he went to the panchayat office in May this year. "I was shocked to find that I was pronounced dead on May 6, 2022. Not only that, it was falsely mentioned in the HSY register that Rs 2,000 was given to my son Prabhuji,” he said.
Gopinath Khatua from the same village had a similar story to share. A plumber in Kerala, Khatua said his wife Joshnarayani got the shock of her life when she was declared a widow under HSY last month.
“My husband is healthy and alive. But some officials have declared him dead and misappropriated Rs 2,000 under my name. They also doctored the death certificates to loot the money,” Joshnarayani claimed.
Meanwhile, panchayat executive officer (PEO) Chandan Kumar Das alleged that some miscreants managed to carry out the scam by hacking the user ID and password. Eleven persons were falsely declared dead between March 16 and May 2 this year.
“I lodged a complaint in Rajnagar police station on Thursday after finding out about these irregularities,” he said. Rajnagar IIC Tapan Nayak said a case has been registered.