HC pulls up govt for Malda flood relief probe delay

Kolkata: As many as 6,595 beneficiaries of 2017 flood relief in Malda had provided a single phone number while 54 beneficiaries had provided the same bank account, Calcutta High Court was informed on Monday. The Bengal government said it had begun a probe into the alleged irregularities, but the HC asked what took the state so long to order one.
Acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal expressed his displeasure while hearing a PIL on the discrepancies in distribution of house building grant to persons who had been affected by the floods.A division bench of justices Bindal and Rajarshi Bhardwaj sought an explanation on why the state was “inactive for so long”.
After the floods ravaged Malda, it had been decided that houses that were completely damaged in Boroi gram panchayat would be entitled to Rs 70,000 as rebuilding grant while those partial damaged would be given Rs 3,300, said advocate Srijib Chakraborty who appeared for Abdul Mannan, opposition leader in Boroi panchayat.
Chakraborty said a six-member committee was formed to finalise the list for providing the house building grant to villagers and accordingly, 14,000 names of beneficiaries were forwarded.
Justice Bindal had wanted to know if the state government had initiated any action as the district administration had clearly mentioned the fraud. In reply advocate general Kishore Datta conveyed that an FIR had been lodged by the administration, as there was defalcation of money, and that arrests had been made. Datta sought time to submit an affidavit to give details of the action initiated by the state.