In wake of the rising complaints of irregularities and the Centre holding back funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the West Bengal government has taken a decision to voluntarily conduct an audit of the implementation of the scheme in the state during the 2022-23 financial year.

State government sources said the audit will be conducted in 345 blocks across West Bengal. “In order to make the process transparent, any CAGapproved audit entity will be entrusted to conduct the task,” a senior official of the state government said.

He said that by conducting this audit voluntarily, the state government intends to give a subtle message that it is not indulging in any kind of corruption in the matter.

“This will also bring a halt to the allegations that the state government is avoiding audits for different Centresponsored schemes in the state.” The official added the audit will give a strong point of argument for the state government for asking the Union government to release the central funds due under this scheme. However, political observers feel the decision to conduct this audit voluntarily is also aimed at projecting a clean image of the ruling party before the panchayat polls scheduled to be held this year.

“Corruption is an issue that principal opposition parties have started highlighting even before the states for the panchayat polls are announced.

So, in my opinion this audit is not just an administrative decision but also a political decision to counter the corruption allegations of the opposition,” said veteran political observer Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay.

Already the Union ministry of rural development has sent a number of central field inspection teams to West Bengal to review the implementation of the scheme. These teams have also visited various districts and talked to the local people as a part of their field inspection.

The state government recently sent an action report to the Centre detailing the steps taken by the administration to remove irregularities if any in allotment under the PMAY scheme. After receiving the report, the Centre had sent another team to tally the contents with their own experiences in the course of inspection.