BARIPADA: The district administration of Mayurbhanj directed BDOs of all 26 blocks to withhold the salaries of as many as 843 field level officials over negligence in allotting dwelling units to eligible beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Collector Hema Kant Say issued an order (departmental letter no 8459) on Tuesday and directed them to stop the salaries of the officers till all eligible beneficiaries are allocated houses under the scheme. Say on Wednesday told mediapersons at least 1,026 officers had been assigned the task of supervising rural housing projects in the district.
Several complaints had been received by the beneficiaries alleging they were deprived of houses under the scheme even after completion of formalities by the field level officials.
Basing on the complaint, the collector inquired into the matter recently and came to know that the field level staff of the concerned department had been neglecting their duty for the last few years. Say said only 173 of them had completed the work assigned to them. The probe revealed the officers who erred neither conducted field visits nor ensured proper monitoring of the scheme’s implementation in their respective blocks.
As per sources, despite approval by the department concerned, construction of 63 per cent of houses under the scheme has not been completed in the district. Say asked the BDOs to withhold the salaries of the 843 officers from October and not release it till all the pending work is completed.