West Bengal is considering a CID-led special investigation team to examine the alleged enrolment of 57,000 ineligible beneficiaries under the Paschimbanga Awas scheme, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari warning that both recipients and officials involved in approving their names could face action.
The announcement came as the state released a second instalment of housing assistance worth more than Rs 4,201 crore to 7.17 lakh beneficiaries. Adhikari said the government would investigate not only the alleged fake beneficiaries but also the officials who recommended or cleared their names.
“In the case of these 57,000 beneficiaries, stringent legal action must be taken. If necessary, we will constitute an SIT and ask CID to investigate. We also need to find out who recommended these fake beneficiaries. If there were lapses at the official level, departmental action will follow,” he said, according to the report.
The government has separately identified around 12,000 recipients who allegedly received the first instalment of Rs 60,000 despite not meeting the prescribed criteria. Around 1,000 of them have returned the money. The remaining 11,000 have been given a November 30 deadline to refund the amount and avoid legal complications.
The proposed investigation places the scrutiny of housing welfare delivery at two levels: whether applicants were eligible for assistance and whether administrative officials followed the prescribed verification process before approving their names. The government said the wider objective was to eliminate corruption, prevent financial leakages and ensure that housing assistance reached genuine beneficiaries.
The first instalment of Rs 60,000 each was released to more than 10.29 lakh beneficiaries on August 6, involving expenditure of around Rs 6,200 crore. With the latest disbursement, the state said assistance had been extended in two phases to more than 17 lakh families.
The housing programme is also being linked with other government schemes and services. Adhikari said beneficiaries could receive Rs 12,000 for toilet construction through Swachh Bharat and employment-linked assistance of Rs 30,000 through VB-G RAM G. District magistrates and block development officers were asked to connect eligible households with the PM Surya Ghar rooftop solar scheme, which can provide subsidies of up to Rs 78,000. Additional state assistance of Rs 15,000 is available for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, the report said.
The chief minister also directed district authorities to help beneficiaries procure sand at reasonable prices so that construction costs do not erode the housing grant. He suggested a preferred price of Rs 1,000 per tractor, with the rate not exceeding Rs 1,200 per tractor.
At the same event, Adhikari raised the possibility of increasing the minimum daily wage for workers engaged in VB-G RAM G from Rs 300 to Rs 400. He said he had discussed the issue with Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal and also directed the additional chief secretary, finance, to increase the honorarium paid to VB-G RAM G supervisors. The government’s next stated steps are to set the November 30 refund deadline for ineligible recipients and decide whether to constitute the proposed CID-led investigation team.
