The Malda district administration has taken a stern stance against over 1,000 beneficiaries who have “not yet laid a brick” despite receiving the first installment to build homes under the Banglar Bari scheme of the state government.

In Malda, around 30,000 families have been identified for the housing scheme under which each family will get assistance of ₹1.2 lakh in two equal installments to build their houses.

After beneficiaries received the first installment of ₹60,000, the administration conducted a drive through the offices of the block development officers (BDOs) to check whether the recipients had started the work.

More than 1,000 beneficiaries across Malda district were found to have not yet started construction.

“This is a clear violation of norms. We are going to deal with it strictly. The BDOs have served notices to those beneficiaries, asking them to initiate the construction without further delay. Close monitoring is being done to ensure that these beneficiaries start construction of their houses,” said Nitin Singhania, the Malda district magistrate.

“Those who pay no heed to the first notice will be served a second and final notice. A month will be given to them to start construction. If a beneficiary ignores both notices, a police complaint would be lodged against him or her,” Singhania added.

Beneficiaries who had not begun the construction had also not received the second installment, the district magistrate added.

Those who have begun construction have received the money released by chief minister Mamata Banerjee during a public service distribution programme held on the outskirts of Siliguri last Tuesday.

Sources said that following Singhania’s directive, such beneficiaries are being summoned to the BDO offices.

“We are explaining to them the consequences of not utilising the fund for the purpose for which it was released. Many of them cited one excuse or the other for the delay, but promised they would take up construction soon,” said a BDO.

An official of the district administration said that they were surprised to see that so many beneficiaries did not obey the norms of the scheme.

“Taking serious cognisance, the DM asked us to go all out to ensure proper utilisation of the fund,” said the official.