Monday, October 3, 2011

Rays of Hope.. a case from TII Anti-Corruption Support Centre

TII’s Anti-Corruption Support Centre helps an IAY beneficiary recover the illegally withdrawn amount of Rs.34,000 from the bank in Jhanjharpur, Madhubani:

Anila Devi, 30 years, wife of Amarnath Jha and resident of Gram Panchayat Lohna North got a sanction in her name for making a house under Indira Aawas Yojana in year 2010. His husband works as a migrant laborer in Ludhiana and during Feb-Dec, 2010, the family was residing in Ludhiana. Their child was born during this period in a Ludhiana hospital.
Incidentally, during the same period the first installment Rs.24,000 under IAY was debited to the family’s IAY account in the Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank, Pat Ghat Branch, Jhanjharpur. A middleman from that area connived with the bank officials not only to illegally withdraw this amount, but also to apply for the second installment of Rs.11,000, get it sanctioned from block office and again withdraw Rs.10,000 from the amount.

When the family came back to the village in June 2011, they enquired about IAY funds from the regional manager of the concerned bank, who informed them about the withdrawal. Baffled and depressed with the fraud, they approached the anti - corruption support centre run by TII in Jhanjharpur that immediately helped him file an RTI with the block office and concerned bank. The application was supported by the evidences of the family being in Ludhiana during the period of illegal withdrawal. The case was crystal clear and the responsible bank official returned the money to the beneficiary within 24 hours, any action is yet to be taken in this case against the responsible government and bank officials and the middlemen.

In a similar incident in Aurangabad recently on 23rd August 2011, a BPL family committed suicide due to the same kind of fraudulent practice of illegal withdrawal of IAY funds from the bank. It could have been prevented, had this family got some support from credible sources to recover the money.

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