GARHWA: In the district, the Abuwa (Abua) Awas Yojana has been roiled by a cascade of irregularities—list‑tampering, ineligible selections, and the creeping normalization of digital bribe‑taking—prompting heightened vigilance in Meral as surrounding blocks yield a troubling pattern of misconduct. In Ramna block’s Tandwa panchayat, district authorities found the Permanent Waiting List had been deliberately manipulated to supplant eligible names with favoured entrants; the Deputy Commissioner suspended the Panchayat Secretary and curtailed the Mukhiya’s financial powers, characterizing the act as a “serious offence” that deprived rightful beneficiaries of state‑backed housing.
Simultaneously, the mechanics of graft have modernized. Reporting from Garhwa documents a shift from hand‑to‑hand payoffs to UPI‑enabled “online” bribes, including a ₹30,000 transfer that led to a coordinator’s dismissal in Dandai and a separate case in Danda where a resident alleged a ₹20,000 demand split between cash and digital payments—an adaptation seemingly aimed at evading classic anti‑corruption dragnets.
A welfare scheme conceived as social ballast now teeters under the weight of procedural subversion; Meral is the latest locus of anxiety, and the remedy lies in swift verification, transparent publication, and unflinching enforcement.
The integrity of beneficiary selection has also been impugned. In Majhiaon block’s Sonpurwa panchayat, local investigations reported that more than three dozen economically secure individuals—including owners of multi‑storey houses—were extended Abuwa Awas benefits while genuinely needy families were left circling administrative corridors with unanswered representations.
Against this district‑wide backdrop, Meral finds itself on edge. A resident, Ramadhar Ram, alleges that BDC member Ramashish Ram secured three Abuwa Awas allotments within his immediate family—one each under the names of Sona Devi (mother), Satita Devi (wife), and Ramashish Ram himself. In response, BDC Ramashish Ram, speaking to The Garhwa Post (GP), denied the allegation of triple allotment. He clarified that only one Abuwa Awas unit exists in his mother’s name, while acknowledging that another allotment had been mistakenly tagged in his wife’s name, for which he stated that an application for cancellation has already been submitted to the authorities.
District remedial action elsewhere underscores the breadth of the rot: in Kharaundi panchayat, probes identified nine ineligible approvals; first‑instalment funds already released to seven recipients were subsequently recovered, and the Panchayat Secretary was suspended. In Chinia block’s Dole panchayat, an inquiry uncovered fraudulent withdrawals orchestrated through a fake account, triggering a recommendation to suspend the Mukhiya, multiple staff suspensions, and orders to claw back misappropriated sums.
What is unequivocal is the governance trajectory: where allegations have matured into evidence, the administration has moved—suspensions, show‑cause notices, recovery of funds, and curbs on financial powers—suggesting that comprehensive audits, ward‑wise disclosure of beneficiary lists, and forensic review of digital payment trails could inoculate the program against further capture.