The rural development department has sought the permission of the accountant-general (AG), Bihar, for the release and expenditure of Rs 9.43 crore to prepare a database of Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) beneficiaries from 1996-97 to 2011-12.

In a letter to the AG, rural development department principal secretary Santhosh Matthew said while funds have been released for construction of houses to the poor, there is no formal list of families who have benefited from the scheme. Matthew, in his letter, mentioned that the Union government had asked the state at regular intervals to prepare a database of the beneficiaries so that it could be loaded on the website.

“If the database is not prepared, there can be hurdles in release of further funds for the scheme,” he said, adding that there was always a possibility of a family getting the benefit twice in the absence of a database of beneficiaries.

The principal secretary also said the state government did not have the infrastructure to prepare the database through IWAAS Soft, a software. The government’s plan is to outsource the work to chartered accountant firms and pay 0.75 paisa for each entry. It would also recruit 900 executive assistants for the purpose and each of them would get Rs 7000 a month for 11 months.

The funds for the work would be released to Bihar Rural Development Society, which would function as a nodal agency and provide utility certificate for the work.

The department has also written to all regional commissioners, asking them to do the preparation for data collection.