Four married women from Barabanki district were alleged to have abandoned their spouses and escaped from their homes with their lovers in Uttar Pradesh, after receiving payments from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), according to reports in the media.
Beneficiaries receive financial aid from the government to build their homes. According to the program, the female head of the household must be the sole or joint owner of the property. After payment of Rs 50,000 was credited to the women’s accounts, they left with their beaus, leaving their husbands in disbelief.
This incident came to light after Saurabh Tripathi, the project officer for the District Urban Development Agency (DUDA), issued a notice and directed that the house’s construction work start, but there was no progress.
The women left their husbands in trouble as they were warned by the DUDA because the construction hasn’t started. Due to the fact that they haven’t received any money from the payment, the men are also anxious that they would get notices of recovery.
However, the husbands made it to the government office and requested that the second PMAY instalment not be credited and notified the authorities that their wives had fled with their lovers. Officials from the district are currently perplexed as to how to get the money back from these recipients.
“Under the PMAY scheme, in Barabanki district, 1604 houses were approved for construction. The department has distributed the first instalment to all allottees. After the investigation, it was found that 40 people hadn’t started the construction work yet. Following this, the officials issued a notice and ordered that the construction of the house begin immediately. However, it was discovered that there are a few houses where money was transferred to women’s accounts, and the women took out the money and ran away with someone else,” said DUDA Project Officer Saurabh Tripathi.
“The husbands have been instructed to persuade and bring their wives home. Because this is government money, it should not be misused, and if it is, the department will take appropriate action,” Mr. Tripathi added.
These four women were beneficiaries of the Nagar Panchayats of Belhara, Banki, Zaidpur, and Siddhaur in the district, and the first instalment was delivered to their accounts. However, they escaped with the money and their boyfriends.
