At least 45 officials and employees in different departments have been booked for allegedly misusing funds meant for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district.

A police investigation has revealed that the nexus has been operating for the past few years, embezzling several cores of rupees by creating fake bills.

The action was taken on the basis of an inquiry report of the Lokayukta department of the state government, which revealed that the officials and employees in Dewas illegally transferred funds meant for PMAY and misused them between 2017 to 2022.

“A preliminary inquiry was conducted and after the facts were confirmed, the investigation report was sent to the Lokayukta office for further action,” said a senior police officer.

Reports available with IANS revealed that a huge amount of money meant for affordable housing for poor people under PMAY was “not only extracted from bank accounts, but also transferred into different accounts”.

That money was then misused for personal interests by producing fake bills.

The development came after senior BJP leader and former minister Deepak Joshi raised this issue and threatened to stage a protest against his own party’s government. On December 25, Joshi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the same, seeking his attention on this matter.

Subsequently, the state administration swung into action and as many as 45 persons, including government officials, were booked.

“Whenever I raised this matter before, some leaders from my own party (BJP) accused me of playing politics and raising voice against the BJP government. But I kept raising this matter because, my father (former Madhya Pradesh CM Kailash Chandra Joshi) won elections from the Bagali constituency eight times and people have faith in us. At present, this constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) but people still come to me whenever they have any problem,” Joshi tld IANS.

Joshi also claimed the MP police action came after his letter to PM Modi surfaced on social media two day back.

“In the last one year, I raised this issue many times before the state BJP leadership, ministers and top officials, but instead any action being taken, I was blamed for tarnishing the party’s image for my own political gain. Worse, when two persons went to lodge a complaint, the local police booked them on fake charges. My father served the people of Bagali for years, we share a special bond with them, and that is why I raised the issue, not for my own political gain,” Joshi said.

However, it’s not the first such instance when embezzlement of funds meant for affordable housing under PMAY has been reported in Madhya Pradesh. A few months back, such cases were reported from Satna district as well.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)