IAY anomalies in Ri Bhoi village

SHILLONG: A group, calling itself the Poor People Movement (PPM), has alleged that a non-resident individual of Umdap village in Ri Bhoi district had been given benefits of Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY).
Addressing media persons on Thursday, R. Marin, vice president of PPM, alleged that the person in question, T. Nongshlie was neither a resident of the village nor came under the BPL category but had been given benefits of the scheme.
The IAY is a social welfare flagship programme of the Government of India created to provide housing for the rural poor. The differentiation is made between rural poor and urban poor for a separate set of schemes operate for the urban poor.
The PPM further accused the headman, B. Maring, of recommending only the names of those close to him for the scheme.
“There are many people in the village who are genuine candidates for the IAY scheme but so far most of them have been deprived of their rights,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, L. Dohtdong, president of PPM, alleged that the headman of Umdap village had been asking Rs.5000 from BPL families on behalf of the Gram Sevak.
“When I called the Gram Sevak and asked him on what ground he was demanding money from the villagers despite getting salary from the government, he replied that he had not demanded any money and that it was the ploy of the headman,” Dohtdong said, adding that after threatening the headman with an FIR on the matter, the latter returned all the money he had collected from the villagers.