A benefit-tracking audit, initiated by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), of all multi-crore special packages implemented in the last 10 years among tribespeople in Attappady has detected large-scale irregularities in the housing sector. Though the government had allotted funds for the construction of 3,921 houses for tribespeople in Attappady in 10 years, work on only 793 houses had been completed.
Unholy nexus
An unholy nexus of officials of the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), local contractors, and a section of tribal promoters deputed by the SC/ST Department swindled the money, the VACB observed.
It was the then VACB Director Jacob Thomas who ordered the audit of the packages initiated to arrest the increasing rate of malnutrition and infant mortality in Attappady.
As per the VACB, the ITDP had been enthusiastic in releasing funds for house construction through contractors and middlemen, while delaying allotments to tribespeople who constructed the houses themselves. As per rules, tribal house construction must be initiated by handing over funds directly to the beneficiaries, without allowing contractors and middlemen to make dividends.
Attappady has 36,000 tribespeople in 193 settlements. The government had sanctioned funds for housing under various welfare schemes apart from taking huge loans from financial institutions such as HUDCO.
“It is horrifying that 3,128 houses among the allotted 3,921 remain incomplete. It is difficult to act against the contractors and middlemen as documents have been created, claiming that the funds were transferred directly to the beneficiaries,” said VACB Circle Inspector V. Krishnankutty.
For each house, the government had allotted between ₹2 lakh to ₹3.5 lakh. The VACB has also detected the usage of poor quality material in house construction and the selection of building patterns without considering the climate of Attappady.
Though more than ₹500 crore was pumped in over the last five years in the form of special packages to fight poverty and malnutrition, it did not yield the desired results largely due to corruption and mismanagement.
