DIMAPUR, JUNE 12 (MExN): The Nagaland State VDB Association (NSVDBA) today issued a statement in response to allegations made by the Nagaland Transparency, Public Rights Advocacy and Direct Action Organisation (NTPRADAO) of “financial scam” against the Nagaland Rural Development Department.
A press release from the association’s President, Tohoshe Awomi and Joint Secretary, Noumvuzolie Sachu informed that the erstwhile Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was restructured into PMAY-G in 2016. With the introduction of PMAY-G, the module of implementation of the scheme was restructured whereby funds were transferred by generating Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) through Public Fund Management System (PFMS).
In this system, it said that fund was transferred to the accounts of the government approved vendors through PFMS for supply of building materials to the beneficiaries, which is inclusive of the transportation cost.
The NSVDBA, it said, had requested the department to adopt this system of implementation keeping in mind the difficulty faced by the beneficiaries residing in far flung areas in procuring the materials on their own, considering the hostile terrain and the cost of transportation to such remotely located villages.
It said that the NTPRADAO’s allegation of “no amount was given to the beneficiaries under PMAY-G” is a “delusional statement at best.” The association claimed that the beneficiaries were given building materials to construct the houses.
“That beneficiaries did not receive money in their accounts should not be translated as money being misused. It may be noted that this system of implementation was adopted with the approval of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India,” it informed.
It however stated that in order to give more autonomy to the beneficiaries, it was decided to fully adopt the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode of implementation, whereby funds are transferred directly to the personal bank accounts of the beneficiaries in three installments.
“With the 1st installment, house should be constructed up to the foundation level; up to the lintel level with the 2nd installment; and complete the house with the 3rd installment. The Ministry of Rural Development has approved the DBT mode of implementation and currently, the entitled amount of Rs 1,30,000 is directly credited to each beneficiary’s account,” the association stated.
It therefore stated that the allegation of siphoning off the money meant for the beneficiaries is “totally baseless and defamatory in nature.” In the current system of implementation, the association informed that use of cheques to withdraw money is prohibited as every transaction is reflected in PFMS, which is regularly monitored by the MoRD.
“Therefore, the question of misutilisation as alleged by the NTPRADAO, apart from being an impossibility, does not even arise and instead of blindly accusing the Department with half-baked information to create confusion amongst the mass the concerned people should rather sit with the grass root organisations to gain clarity,” it advised.
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