Elections 2019: Rampant Corruption in Implementation of Govt Welfare Schemes in Vindhya Region

[Vindhya Region is one of the most backward regions of Madhya Pradesh. It comprises Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Singrauli districts. Ahead of general elections 2019, NewsClick travelled to Rewa, Sidhi and Singrauli districts of the region to understand the mood of voters. This is the second part of the series of ground reports from Vindhya region.]  

Rewa /Satna /Sidhi: After reports of corruption in the implementation of ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yogna’ (PMAY) in Ram Nagar Town Council of the Satna district, the district collector on April 8, 2019 ordered a probe in alleged Rs 1.84 crore case, and sought report from the project in-charge of the District Urban Development Agency (DUDA) Satna.

The collector ordered the probe following a news report published by a local Hindi daily on April 7, 2019, which alleged ‘massive corruption in the implementation of PMAY by the officials, who have given benefits to the ineligible people by taking heavy bribe’.

Earlier, two persons of the same council were booked for the alleged corruption of Rs 2.69 crore in the PMAY scheme under the relevant sections of the IPC.

The report says that the officials have made those people beneficiary who already have houses, are associated with the political party. Many of these beneficiaries have “encroached” on the government lands, and in some cases, the beneficiary is not the resident of the place. In wake of this, the officials have given a wide berth to the real beneficiaries, said BK Mala, a social activist.

According to the PMAY official website, there are 5,04,435 eligible beneficiaries in all the three districts as per the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011. Of them, 1,93,716 are in Satna, 2,02,610 are in Rewa and 1,08,109 are in Sidhi. But, residents claim that less than 30% these have got the benefits of the scheme.

The local newspapers, on the other hand, Rewa claim that in rural areas, 46,000 people got the benefits of PMAY, while the number is 3,465 in the urban areas.

In Sidhi, around 57,000 people – from rural as well as urban areas – benefited from the affordable housing scheme. However, in most cases, the payment is still due.    

NewsClick visited number of villages in two districts of Vidhya Region – Rewa and Sidhi.

In Rewa, the team visited Belha, Harduwa, Gondha, Kullu, Beeda, Gonhada, Jhabra (of Rewa) located along the Rewa-Simariya Road and in Sidhi, Beohari, Gandhi Gram, Padhuri, Barambaba, Lojhar, Tikri and Bhari to know the status of the government’s flagship schemes.

Many of these villages have tribal population while some have mixed population of tribals and upper castes.

In Gonhada village of Rewa, only 12-13 people got the benefit of PMAY, and more than 50 people received gas and cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana while there are 1,500 voters in the village.

A villager, Govind Koul, said that the beneficiaries had to pay a hefty amount between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 to the officials and local leaders to get the work done.

He further said, “There are electricity connections. But since last two months, there is no electricity in the village because the fused transformer has not been replaced despite several complaints.”   

In Kullu village, which is located at a distance of 25 km from Rewa city on Rewa-Simariya road and has 200 voters, only two people got the home and around 20 people got the gas cylinder. “We have paid Rs 2,000 to gas company to get the gas connection,” said 28-year-old Tulsi Saket.

He further said that he has not been able to refill the cylinder. “Because we have to pay Rs 750 for it, and I don’t have this much money. I work as a daily wage labourer.”

Other villagers, Mallu Saket, Ramlal Saket and Bhutan Saket, who were standing there, nodded along. The story was no different in Sidhi.

Jagannath Dwivedi, a senior journalist from Sidhi district, who has been closely monitoring these schemes, said, “Massive corruption has taken place in the implementation of Ujjwala and PM Awas Yojana. Officials and local leaders have taken bribes before finalising the name of the poor beneficiaries.”

“In some cases, they have taken 30% of the total amount,” he added.   

Aayushman Bharat

The flagship scheme of the central government to provide hassle-free healthcare to the poor worth up to Rs 5 lakh has gone bankrupt in these regions. And since inception of the scheme, no payment has been made to the hospitals.

According to the data provided by the Rewa district Aayushman Bharat Scheme office, there are 3 lakh eligible beneficiaries; of them, 1.5 lakh have got the card.

There are two-three hospitals in Rewa including a government hospital. Nine-hundred and fifty people have been treated under this scheme in these hospitals, and around Rs 20 lakh have been claimed by the hospitals. But the payment is due.

There are only two hospitals in Sidhi - one government and another private. In this district, 1,054 have been treated from among the 1.7 lakh card holders, and have claimed around Rs 30 lakh under the scheme, but the payment is due.

As a result, the private hospitals of both the districts have been giving a wide berth to the Aayushman Bharat patients, and they forced to pay the money.

Interestingly, the district BJP Chief, Dr. Rajendra Mishra, who owns the only private hospital of Sidhi, according to the patients and local journalists, has been refusing to treat Aayushman Bharat patients because dues of Rs 10 lakh have not been cleared.

Ujjwala

To distribute gas cylinders to the poor, the Union government had launched Ujjwala Scheme. According to official data, there are more than 4 lakh beneficiaries in Rewa and Sidhi, but this scheme, too, has become a victim of corruption.

Besides, most of the beneficiaries have not refilled the cylinder owing to the skyrocketing price of the cylinder.

Requesting anonymity, a gas agency manager said, “We have witnessed a huge drop in the number of customers refilling the gas cylinders. The reason could be high price of the gas and transportation.” 

One of the beneficiaries, Rahul Kaul from Rewa’s Sweeper colony, said, “I have paid Rs 2,000 to get the gas cylinder under the scheme after months of struggle. The beneficiaries from my locality have paid similar amount.”

Another resident of the same locality, Shashi Basnal said, “We have to pay Rs 750 at once to get the cylinder and it takes Rs 100-150 for transportation. We are daily wage workers, and don’t have too much money to spend on a cylinder. So, we had to switch to kerosene stoves or mitti ka chulha (clay stove).”