A non-government organisation has taken up the Right to Information route to help landless people in Bhagalpur get free plots from the government to build houses.

The scheme, Grihastha Awas Yojana, launched in 2012 is meant for Mahadalits, Dalits and extremely backward classes. According to its norms, the eligible people are given 3 decimals of free land.

On Wednesday morning, the Bhagalpur-based NGO Human Rights Organisation helped 800 and odd applicants to prepare their applications to be submitted to the Jagdishpur circle office. At the end of the day, the organisation’s chief executive officer, Ajit Kumar Singh, said: “Around 800 applications have been forwarded to the circle office in the first phase.”

The organisation, however, claimed people across the eastern Bihar districts have not been able to enjoy the scheme thanks to the government’s mismanagement.

Singh said: “Principal secretary, revenue and land reforms, Vyasji in November last year allotted each block in the state Rs 10,000 for a survey of free land available so that every beneficiary got their plots. If government land was not available in some area, the administration concerned was directed to purchase 3 decimal lands for Rs 20,000. But we doubt if that’s working smoothly, as there is ample evidence of mismanagement in the government machinery.”

“If the beneficiaries do not get land in the stipulated time after filling their applications, we would file Right to Information applications. We hope to compel the government to provide the beneficiaries lands,” said chief executive officer Singh.

Navin Bhushan, the Jagdishpur circle officer, said steps were being taken to provide plots to the landless residents in the area.