Gourisankar Jena, Trinamul’s booth president in Nandigram’s Sainbari village, received Rs 20,000 from the state government as Amphan relief to repair his home even though his concrete house remains intact. So did his brother Aniruddha.
The trend perhaps runs in families. Umarani Jena, a Trinamul member in Nandigram’s Amdabad 2 gram panchayat, her contractor husband Mangalmay, brother-in-law Debabrata, cousin Ramkrishna, nephew Anupam and sister-in-law Purnima also received the Amphan dole of Rs 20,000 each.
Moynarani Das, Trinamul’s panchayat samiti member in Mahisadal, also received the dole. No surprise, so did her husband Tapan and brother-in-law Paban.
Aswini Patra, Trinamul’s gram panchayat member in Sonachura, has his phone number enlisted with the names of 15 beneficiaries.
Government officials in East Midnapore’s Nandigram on Monday evening hoisted campaign-style flex banners with names of Amphan compensation beneficiaries outside block offices. It sparked off a row as the lists had names of many Trinamul workers and their family members whose homes had not been damaged in the cyclone.
The move came in the wake of weeks of protests led by Opposition parties and villagers over alleged corruption by Trinamul-run panchayats and some block officials in handing over the Rs 20,000 compensation the government announced for those who had lost their homes in the devastation caused by Amphan.
Public anger is palpable even as the Mamata Banerjee government is now on a cleansing overdrive.
“Even if a Trinamul functionary’s home was intact or only a window or tile was damaged, they got Rs 20,000, bypassing others who lost their homes in the cyclone,” a villager said.
Some of the accused said they had collected the dole for those without bank accounts, while others said the transfer of Rs 20,000 to their bank accounts was a mistake.
“We collected the government dole on behalf of other people,” was the most common reply.
“I collected the amount on behalf of three beneficiaries. I gave two lots (of Rs 20,000 each) to needy individuals without bank accounts. This is charity, not corruption,” said Gourisankar Jena.
Aswini Patra, accused of taking “cut-money from rightful claimants of the dole”, denied the allegations.
“All fabricated. My phone number was assigned by the panchayat because these people did not have their own mobile phones,” Patra said on Wednesday.
“I will resign from my post if anyone can furnish proof of my wrongdoing in any manner,” he added.
Asked why she and her family members had received the relief money, Umarani Jena declined comments.
Her husband Mangalmay, however, claimed they had been compensated “by mistake”. “Look, I will return the funds that I wrongfully received. I am a social worker and we don’t do such things,” he said.
A similar claim was made by Moynarani Das in Mahisadal. “It (the transfer of relief funds to her bank account) was a mistake,” she said but did not elaborate how. “But I can’t speak for my brother-in-law’s home (compensation). That is a separate household,” she added.
Leaders of the CPM and the BJP have continued their tirade against Trinamul’s “mismanagement of Amphan compensation” in the district.
“These public lists should have been released before the compensation was distributed. Doing so would have prevented the irregularities, and phoney claimants could have been identified at the onset. Now, it will be difficult to get back money from those who have received it illegally,” said CPM district secretary Niranjan Sihi.
“Some Trinamul functionaries who suffered negligible damage like losing window panels or tiles in the cyclone (Amphan) claimed full compensation. This is a total sham,” said BJP’s Nandigram vice-president Pralay Pal.
“We (the party) will take out even more rallies against the corruption,” he added.
District disaster management official Mrityunjay Haldar said block officials were drafting measures of how to get wrongly distributed funds back into state coffers.
