Taking serious note of irregularities in the implementation of various housing schemes meant for eligible beneficiaries in Bhalki taluk of Bidar district, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bidar Zilla Panchayat Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar placed seven Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) under suspension pending inquiry.
Sangamesh Savale, Mallesh Maruti, Revanappa, Rekha B., Chandrashekhar, Santosh Swamy and Praveen Kumar, Panchayat Development Officers of Balur, Biri (B), Janthi, Morambi, Talawad, Varavatti and Enakur gram panchayats, respectively, have been suspended. As per information provided by sources in the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, the Managing Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation, a State government undertaking which is entrusted with the responsibility of implementing housing projects, had, following complaints on irregularities in the implementation of the projects, written two letters to the Chief Executive Officer of the Bidar Zilla Panchayat directing the latter to inquire into the irregularities and take necessary action against those responsible for them. The Chief Executive Officer, in turn, issued notices to the Panchayat Development Officers concerned seeking explanations.
Further inquiry into the allegation revealed rampant irregularities and corruption in the implementation of the housing projects in 10 gram panchayats.
The examination of houses, their GPS position and the beneficiaries revealed that actually one house was built and money for two houses was withdrawn showing two beneficiaries.
The investigating officers, in their preliminary investigation, found 323 such cases of single house-double beneficiaries in 10 gram panchayats.
The exact amount of money misappropriated in the scam is yet to be estimated.
