BALANGIR: A woman sarpanch of Salebhata panchayat in Agalapada block and her husband were arrested by Loisingha police on Saturday for abusing their power and demolishing the under-construction houses of five tribal families.
The sarpanch had ordered the demolition exercising the powers of Collector that she has been vested with for fighting Covid pandemic.The five families were sanctioned houses under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) scheme. As they did not have their own land, the construction of houses allotted to them was started on vacant Government land, earmarked by the panchayat and block administration, in the village. However, the lady sarpanch Hemakanti Munda demolished the houses on August 11. The affected families lodged an FIR against Hemakanti, her husband Mohan Munda and eight others.
Basing on the FIR, the sarpanch and her husband were arrested by a team led by DSP Ranjita Singh for misusing their power. Eight others against whom an FIR in this regard was registered are still at large. One of the beneficiaries said he had received two instalments under PMAY-G and started construction of the houses only after the tehsildar and revenue inspector allotted the vacant land to him and the others. “Though the funds were not adequate, we somehow managed to start the construction by availing loans from money lenders. Now the houses have been razed. How will we survive,” he questioned.
Meanwhile, Hemakanti defending her action said, “I along with my husband and few members of the village committee demolished the houses as I have been granted the powers of a Collector,” she said.