NSVDBA rubbishes allegation of ‘financial scam’ in RD dept.

The Nagaland State VDB Secy. Association ((NSVDBA) has rubbished the allegation leveled by the Nagaland Transparency, Public Rights Advocacy and Direct Action Org (NTPRADAO) that there was “financial scam” in the Rural Development department

DIMAPUR — The Nagaland State VDB Secy. Association ((NSVDBA) has rubbished the allegation leveled by the Nagaland Transparency, Public Rights Advocacy and Direct Action Org (NTPRADAO) that there was “financial scam” in the Rural Development department.

The association in a press release stated that it was compelled to issue a clarification since allegation of “siphoning off the money meant for the beneficiaries is totally baseless and defamatory in nature.”

“Erstwhile Indira AwaasYojana (IAY) was restructured into PMAY-G in the year 2016. With the introduction of PMAY-G, the module of implementation of the scheme was restructured whereby funds were transferred by generating Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) through Public Fund Management System (PFMS),” NSVDBA stated.

In this system, fund was transferred to the accounts of the government approved vendors through PFMS for supply of building materials to the beneficiaries, which is inclusive of the transportation cost, it explained.

The association informed that it had requested the department to adopt this system of implementation keeping in mind the difficulty faced by the beneficiaries residing in far-flung areas in procuring the materials on their own, considering the hostile terrain and the cost of transportation to such remotely located villages.

Refuting the allegation that “no amount was given to the beneficiaries under PMAY-G,” NSVDBA clarified that the beneficiaries were given building materials to construct the houses.

“The beneficiaries did not receive money in their accounts should not be translated as money being misused. It may be noted that this system of implementation was adopted with the approval of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Govt. of India,” the association stated.

However, in order to give more autonomy to the beneficiaries, it was decided to fully adopt the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode of implementation, whereby funds are transferred directly to the personal bank accounts of the beneficiaries in three instalments, it stated.

It went on to state that with the first instalment, a house should be constructed upto the foundation level, upto the lintel level with the second instalment and completion the house with the third instalment.

Further, the Ministry of Rural Development has approved the DBT mode of implementation and currently, the entitled amount of INR 1,30,000, is directly credited to each beneficiary’s account.

Rubbishing allegation of siphoning off money meant for the beneficiaries, the association stated that in the current system of implementation, use of cheques to withdraw money is prohibited as every transaction is reflected in PFMS, which is regularly monitored by the MoRD.

“Such an act of demeaning a Department and its Officers with baseless and malicious allegations is not expected of an organisation that is not even a month old. One begins to wonder if this brand-new organisation was formed to shield some individuals with personal vendetta against the RD Department, as it was officially formed only on May 31, 2023,” NSVDBA added.

Also read: 144 CrPC clamped in Zunheboto town