Speculation rife about ED probe in PMAY

Aurangabad: Speculation is rife on Saturday evening that the Central Government decided to conduct a probe into Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) implemention through the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of huge financial misappropriation.

However, it did not get an official confirmation from Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The then administrator of AMC and currently district collector Astik Kumar Pandey who approved the scheme said ‘no comment’.

It may be noted that political parties made allegations several times about irregularities in PMAY. The Corporation woke up overnight from slumber to implement the scheme in 2022 when MP Imtiaz Jaleel raised the issues in Lok Sabah.

The deadline for the scheme was to end at that time in 2022. The district administration made available 127 hectares of land at Padegaon, Sundarwadi, Tisgaon, Chikalthana and Harsul.

A tender process was also implemented for the construction of 39,000 houses. Samarth Construction Company was given the contract for the construction.

The State Housing Department constituted two separate inquiry committees in this regard. The committees blamed the tender was allotted in a wrong manner, suspecting irregularities in the scheme.

The State Government ordered two weeks ago to cancel the tender process.

The AMC was directed to implement a fresh tender process. Therefore, speculation rife the Central Government decided to conduct an inquiry through the ED on Saturday. But, sources in the Corporation refused to comment on it.

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Heavy financial burden on beneficiaries

It is not possible to develop 39 K houses on the land given by the district administration. Each beneficiary will have to get a house of only 300 square feet for Rs 12 to 14 lakhs. That too, in a four-story apartment. Central and State Governments will pay Rs 2.60 lakh to each beneficiary upon purchasing a house. It was also decided that the remaining amount would be made available by the contractor through a bank loan. The house would cost each beneficiary Rs 20 lakhs with interest.

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Tender process for 7 K houses only

Initially, the Corporation issued a tender for the construction of 7,000 houses. Samarth Construction was declared eligible for the contract as per the terms and conditions. Later, the same contractor was assigned the task of constructing 39,000 houses. The rise in houses is providing a burden on the AMC.