BJP stages walkout from Assembly over Baghel govt's failure to implement housing scheme

Accusing the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of "snatching" houses of the poor to which they were entitled, the BJP staged a walkout from the assembly on Thursday.

Raipur: Members of the opposition BJP on Thursday accused the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of "snatching" houses of the poor to which they were entitled and staged a walkout from the state Assembly.

Even the state panchayat and rural department minister had to quit the portfolio after being disappointed with the state government's reluctance in releasing funds for the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), they claimed to refer to T S Singh Deo. On July 16, Singh Deo had given up charge of the panchayat department citing various reasons, saying he was unable to fulfill the department's targets as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the "current scenario".

In his letter to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the minister had claimed not a single house was built for homeless people under the PMAY as funds were not allotted despite "repeated request". Singh Deo continues to hold four other portfolios, including the state health department. Raising the issue during the Question Hour on the second day of the monsoon session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly, former chief minister Raman Singh claimed the PMAY implementation was pathetic in the state where the Baghel government was not giving its part of the share and as a result, targets allotted by the Centre were withdrawn.

Singh Deo in his letter (to CM while giving up the panchayat department) had said funds were not released under the scheme, as a result of which houses could not be constructed for eight lakh people, BJP leader Raman Singh said. The former CM sought to know how many houses were sanctioned under the scheme in 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 and how many of them have been completed.

State Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar, who was replying in the absence of Singh Deo, said in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, 1,51,072 and 1,57,815 houses were sanctioned respectively under the PMAY-Rural. Of the target in 2019-20, 72,103 houses were completed while 78,969 were incomplete. Of the target in 2020-21, not a single one was built, he said. No houses were sanctioned in the next two financial years under the PMAY-Rural, he said.

Similarly, from 2019 to 2022 (three financial years), 1,01,081 houses were sanctioned under the PMAY-Urban, 19,594 houses were completed, and 43,304 were under progress/incomplete, while work on 38,183 houses was yet to be started, Akbar said. The minister said in 2019-20, the Chhattisgarh government was seeking to draw a loan to the tune of Rs 762 crore and the Punjab National Bank had shown interest in sanctioning it, but due to objections raised by the Reserve Bank India, the state could not avail it.

He further claimed the Centre has not been releasing the pending funds of states and the BJP should take the initiative for it. This led to an uproar by BJP members in the House. Dissatisfied with the minister's reply, the BJP legislators walked out of the House. (PTI)