Ludhiana: Labourer denied aid under PMAY four years after he applied for it

The plight of a common man can be judged from the fact that a labourer, who had applied for assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) four years ago, has now received a reply from the municipal corporation (MC) that the area, Ashiyana Colony on the Jassiyan road, where his plot is situated, falls outside the MC limits.

The family members held a protest outside the MC headquarters (Zone A office) on Wednesday, accusing the MC officials of harassing them and depriving them of the benefits under the scheme. The labourer claimed to have spent Rs 1 lakh on the construction of the house, as a condition to get the assistance under the yojana.

A migrant labourer, Lal Jha, 40, a resident of Jassiyan road, works in a hosiery unit and had purchased a 27-yard plot expecting that the government would provide financial help for constructing the house.

Father of four, including three daughters, Jha rued, “We live in a rented accommodation, and I have already spent around Rs 1 lakh on the construction of his house by mortgaging the land. But, the MC officials are now claiming that the property fall outside MC limits.”

Jha said, “I applied for assistance under the scheme in 2016 and the MC officials had been harassing me since then. In January, the MC served a notice stating that we would not get any benefit if we fail to commence construction. I took a Rs 1lakh private loan by mortgaging my land for commencing construction and I am paying interest on the same.”

“But, on June 9, officials informed us the land is situated outside the MC limits and we cannot avail benefit under the scheme. Earlier, I was told that I would get 1.5 lakh in three installments and we had always been making rounds of MC offices for getting the benefit under the scheme.”

MC superintending engineer Tirath Bansal said, “I cannot comment on the issue before looking into the record. But, if the matter raised by the couple is genuine, then I will seek a report from the staff in this regard and the case would be taken up on priority.”

Senior deputy mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra said, “The MC officials have surely failed to perform their duty in this case leading to harassment to the couple. If the land is situated outside MC limits, then why no verification was carried out when the couple had applied in 2016.”

“Moreover, if the area is situated outside MC limits, then why and how a notice was served to the couple for commencing construction in January? I will take up the matter with mayor Balkar Sandhu and MC commissioner Pardeep Kumar, following which action would be taken against the guilty staff members,” Malhotra added.