Following the PM KISAN scam in Tamil Nadu in which about 5 lakh ineligible people were enrolled under the scheme leading to the siphoning off of around ₹110 crore from the exchequer, many reports of local officials indulging in corruption in other Central government schemes have emerged.
Earlier, it was reported that documents of 60 beneficiaries belonging to Devendrapuram village under Karnavur panchayat near Mannargudi were forged showing that houses and toilets have been built while without actually building them.
The District Collector of Thiruvarur had ordered for a probe in the matter and a special investigating team under Ponniyil Selvan, Rural Development Agency Assistant Project Officer was formed to go on a door-to-door survey in all the villages of Karnavur panchayat to check if the toilets and houses have been built for the eligible beneficiaries.
Now, reports of further irregularities have emerged where in the panchayat secretary of the Karnavur panchayat and the local government officials have forged documents to show 274 houses under PMAY (PM housing scheme) and 890 toilets under Swacch Bharat scheme as having been built without building them.These residents have reportedly received a congratulatory letter from the Prime Minister for successfully getting their houses and toilets built while in actual no houses or toilets have been built.
The scam came to light only after the District Collector went there for inspection.
In another similar instance, residents of Motilal street in Mannargudi have also received congratulatory letter from the Prime Minister for building their houses under PMAY scheme. They say that local government officials had come and collected their details and photocopies of ration card, Aadhar card, etc but never took any action after that.
Earlier in July 2020, residents of Thalayamangalam village near Mannargudi in Thiruvarur district lodged police complaints about misappropriation of funds in which around 140 houses under the PMAY were shown on paper as built by forging documents of beneficiaries, without building them. 4 officers were dismissed from service in this regard.