Following orders of the state government, an FIR has been registered in the case of providing benefit to ineligible applicants under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna in Firozabad district. The case was registered on Tuesday against the then project officer of the district urban development agency (DUDA) Anupam Garg at Matsena police station.According to the FIR, the officer had transferred Rs 1.92 crore into the bank accounts of 221 ineligible applicants under the PM housing scheme in 2019. The then district magistrate (DM) Selva Kumari J had sent a probe report to the state government in the entire matter.
The incumbent project officer of DUDA, Subhashveer Singh Rajput said, “The state government had sent a letter concerning the malpractices in the PM housing scheme on December 15. Following the orders, a police complaint was filed against the then project officer Anupam Garg for approving the benefit under the scheme to the ineligible applicants in 2019.”
Matsena police station house officer Anjesh Kumar said, “On basis of the complaint received from the incumbent project officer of DUDA, an FIR has been registered against the former project officer under the IPC section 420 (cheating and dishonesty). Documents concerning the case have been sought from the department. The matter is being investigated in detail.”
In the last two years, Firozabad district administration has recovered over Rs 1 crore from the majority of the 221 “ineligible beneficiaries”. Process of recovery in 69 cases is still pending. According to the sources, 35 beneficiaries are “missing”, and revenue department teams have been unable to find them so far. Under the PM housing scheme, central and state governments together provide monetary assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh to the people of low-income groups living in urban areas. The sum provided in three installments is meant for construction of a house on a piece of land owned by the applicant.
The first installment provided to the applicant is of Rs 50,000, second installment of Rs 1.50 lakh and third installment of Rs 50,000.
After the initial probe and report sent by the district administration, the accused project officer Anupam Garg was transferred to Hathras on the same post. Earlier this month, he was attached to the state cooperative bank. According to the police, the officer will be called for questioning soon.
