Jharkhand tribal families allege middleman duped them

A section of tribal families, who were resettled at Bichlidag gaon of Jharkhand's Latehar, have allegedly been duped by a middleman. The house of all the beneficiaries was being constructed by a middleman of the village, identified as Sanjaya Singh but even after three years, no beneficiary's house could be completed. Instead of completing the houses, the middleman allegedly stole the bricks of the beneficiaries.

Latehar (Jharkhand): The practice of exploiting tribals in the name of development has been going on for decades. In a similar incident, a section of tribal families, who were resettled at Bichlidag gaon of Jharkhand's Latehar, have allegedly been duped by a middleman.

According to reports, as many as seven primitive tribes residing in Bichlidag village were sanctioned accommodation under Birsa Awas Yojana in the financial year 2018-19.

The house of all the beneficiaries was being constructed by a middleman of the village, identified as Sanjaya Singh but even after three years, no beneficiary's house could be completed. Instead of completing the houses, the middleman allegedly stole the bricks of the beneficiaries.

Speaking to ETV Bharat reporters, Mahendra, a local resident said," The middleman, Sanjaya Singh was also building the residence of the two brothers named Teju Parhia and Akhilesh Parhia of the village. Meanwhile, Teju and Akhilesh died of sudden drowning in the pond. After the death of the beneficiaries, instead of completing the house, Singh stole the bricks of the beneficiaries."

"Some middlemen have also fled the village along with their children after the incident. Now the deceased, Teju's mother is living alone in the village. By putting an electric meter in front of the house, the construction work has been declared fully equipped but no one got the benefit of the scheme," he said.

Weeping in the sorrow of his family being shattered, Jeetni Parhin said that after the death of both of his sons, Sanjay came to the village and took away all the bricks which were kept for construction of the house. After this incident, her daughters-in-law also had to leave the village under compulsion.

When contacted, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency's Director, Bindheswari Tatma said that he was aware of the allegations, and said that they are conducting the search operation to find the accused middleman. Further enquiry about the matter is underway.