A panchayat secretary, S. Ramesh, 40, of Athipalaipattu village, near Arani in Tiruvannamalai, has been suspended for allegedly seeking bribes to release funds under a Centrally-sponsored rural housing scheme.
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The suspension order was issued by Tiruvannamalai Collector B. Murugesh on Thursday. He also initiated legal action against B. Shankar, 45, president, Athipalaipattu, under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994 for allegedly demanding bribes from beneficiaries along with Ramesh in a video clip, which went viral on social media.
B. Shankar | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
“A fact finding report has been sought from the Rural Development Department on the issue after a detailed inquiry with beneficiaries and other stakeholders,” an official said.
Officials said more than 750 residents reside in Vinayagapuram and Pattakulam neighbourhoods in the village. Among them, 22 beneficiaries were granted low-cost houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAYG) Scheme in 2019-20. Accordingly, ₹2.7 lakh was sanctioned for each beneficiary.
It was alleged that Shankar and Ramesh demanded a sum of ₹30,000 from each beneficiary to release the sanctioned funds. As a first installment, they sought ₹6,000 from each beneficiary, officials added.