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New Delhi, March 15 (PTI): The West Bengal government came under fire from BJP members in Lok Sabha over alleged irregularities in the implementation of a central scheme to build homes for rural poor and the "lack" of interest in developing sports infrastructure in the state.
BJP member Arjun Singh from Barrackpur accused the West Bengal government of "looting" funds allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G) and depriving "genuine people'' of benefits under the initiative.
"Funds are sought under the scheme after clicking photographs in front of fully built homes," Singh said during the Question Hour, amid protests from Trinamool members led by Sudeep Bandyopadhyay.
Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the government has taken serious note of some states changing the name of the scheme after taking money from the Centre under PMAY-G.
Singh claimed that BJP members in West Bengal feel that they belong to some other country as the state government had been ignoring their requests for convening meetings of Disha committees for better implementation of central schemes.
"Disha committee meetings are not being held. We are not aware of any Disha committees in the state, Singh said, referring to the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee.
The committees, chaired by Members of Parliament, have been set up in every district to monitor the implementation of central schemes.
Responding to another question, Minister of State for Sports Nisith Pramanik said the West Bengal government had not sent any proposal for development of sports infrastructure in the state.
He said Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had written letters to all state governments regarding development of sports infrastructure under an annual action plan.
Pramanik said all state governments, except West Bengal, have responded to the letters and sent proposals for development of sports infrastructure.
Pramanik was responding to a supplementary question raised by Prasun Banerjee asking the government to make efforts to host Olympic Games in India and involve former Olympians in its planning.