The Dinhata municipality, then helmed by Trinamool leader and MLA Udayan Guha, has come under the scanner for allegedly collecting extra funds from beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Housing For All (Urban) scheme between 2015 and 2023.

The matter came to light on Saturday when Anwar Hossain, a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar, told the media that the municipality collected extra sums ranging from ₹18,000 to ₹20,000 from enlisted beneficiaries.

“Under the scheme, a beneficiary needs to contribute ₹25,000 if he or she wants to build a concrete house in the urban area. The civic body in Dinhata, however, took ₹18,000 additionally from a few beneficiaries when Guha was the municipality chairperson. After Guha resigned as the civic body chief in 2021, the municipality increased the extra amount to ₹20,000,” Hossain alleged.

Hossain has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) at Calcutta High Court, alleging that the Trinamool-run board of the Dinhata municipality had indulged in corruption by taking extra money from housing beneficiaries and named Guha, also the north Bengal development minister, in connection with the case.

Hossain, of Satkura under Dinhata village–II panchayat, said in the PIL that the civic board took ₹18,000 to ₹20,000 more from beneficiaries. The PIL, he said, would be heard by the division bench of Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) at Calcutta High Court on March 6.

“We have also appealed for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the CBI,” said the petitioner, who had filed an RTI to gather information about the alleged collection of extra funds from the beneficiaries. “I have found that the state urban development agency (SUDA) instructed the civic body to refund this additional money to the beneficiaries concerned, but the municipality didn’t act. There are at least 189 such beneficiaries from whom extra funds were collected,” he said.

He claimed those who could not pay the extra sum didn’t get aid "in complete violation of the government norms". "The then civic chairman (Guha) and the civic body cannot evade responsibility,” he said.

He said those who paid the money got two money receipts. While a receipt under the head of “any other collection” was given for the valid ₹25,000, another receipt under the head of “development fund” was given for the extra amount.

“Though the civic body collected this money as development fund, there is no evidence of development carried out in the Dinhata municipal area with this fund. The information I have hints that at least a sum of ₹4 crore was collected this way,” he said.

Guha was brief in his reaction: “I do not have any information about such PIL."

However, several Dinhata residents pointed at a January 18 Facebook post by Guha on the issue. “SUDA has mentioned that while the beneficiary will pay ₹25,000, the civic body will have to pay ₹20,000 as its contribution. Considering the then financial condition of Dinhata municipality, it was not possible for the civic body even to pay ₹2,000 for each beneficiary,” Guha wrote. “That is why a citizens’ convention was held so that people who need assistance are not deprived. There, it was decided each beneficiary would pay an additional sum...."