Jiribam, February 11, 2010: The Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) being implemented by the Jiribam Municipal Council (JMC) has been marred with allegations of inordinate delay and favouritism in the selection process of beneficiaries.

Altogether 288 beneficiaries belonging to BPL families were selected from ten wards of JMC for the programme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation all over the country.

The beneficiaries have been annoyed by the irritatingly slow pace of implementation of the programme by JMC.

Under the scheme, each beneficiary should receive Rs 1.05 lakhs -- Rs 90,000 for building a house and Rs 15000 for building latrine.

The total amount should be given in four phases, 25 per cent of the amount in each phase.

One basic criteria for the scheme is that the beneficiary should have a patta land to build a house along with latrine.

It is also said that a sum of Rs 17,000 is supposed to be borne by a beneficiary at the initial stage of constructing a house under the scheme.

But it has been discovered that some JMC councillors collected Rs 20,000 each from the beneficiaries for the initial construction work.

Further, it has been detected some persons who do not possess patta land of their own are among the selected beneficiaries which is against the prescribed criteria of the scheme.

One non-beneficiary, on condition anonymity, rued that the selection process was politically motivated because of which many well to do Congress loyalists were selected in place of many deserving poor families.

He further alleged that a person living in a pucca house was selected whereas a lonely poor window was kept out of the scheme.

One beneficiary who borrowed Rs 20,000 as demanded by his local councillor for the initial stage of his house construction work under the scheme, expressed his scepticism in view of the Jiribam Municipal Council�s extremely slow pace of implementing the scheme.

It has also come to light that interference from UG elements is one of the factors hampering implementation of the scheme.

Meanwhile, a joint action committee has been constituted by Jiribam beneficiaries of the scheme with the objective to ensure that they receive what is entitled to them under the scheme.

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