Officials pulled up over IAY allotments

Vizianagaram: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju participated in a review meeting of the district Vigilance and Monitoring Committee at the DRDA conference hall here on Friday and elicited information from the officials as to how they were utilising the funds.

Taking part in the meeting, Visakhapatnam MP Kambhampati Haribabu pulled up the officials of the Housing Department when they failed to provide him satisfactory answers on the allotment of houses made under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) for the financial year 2014-15. He angrily told them to go out and come back after collecting the relevant details.

Haribabu asked them whether they were selecting the beneficiaries under the IAY following the guidelines. When they failed to give proper answers, he chided them for the negligence. He demanded an explanation from them as to how they could allocate houses to the beneficiaries under the India Awaas Yojana without the knowledge of the District Collector. The funds allotted by the Central Government should be utilised properly, he told them.

Intervening in the discussion, Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told Housing Minister Kimidi Mrunalini to conduct meetings with the officials of the Housing Department at regular intervals. Haribabu told ITDA project officer Balaji that the conditions in tribal areas in the district should be improved and the officials should use innovative methods of cultivation to increase the yields of vegetables and cashew nuts. District Collector M M Nayak, Zilla Parishad Chairperson Swathi Rani, MLAs Geetha, K A Nayudu and officials of various departments were present at the meeting.