The mother and the sister-in-law of a Trinamul Congress gram panchayat chief have been accused of irregularities under the state government’s housing scheme for the poor.

Sreyasree Naskar, the block development officer of Cooch Behar 1 block, sent letters to Purnima Barman and Munmun Barman, asking them to rectify the irregularities. One of them has been asked to refund the money she received.

Purnima is the mother, and Munmun is the sister-in-law of Dipankar Barman, who heads the Haribhanga gram panchayat.

Both of them had received the first instalment of ₹60,000 to construct “pucca” houses. Purnima is an anganwadi worker.

Nazmul Alam Sarkar, a resident of the same block and an advocate at Calcutta High Court, alleged in a social media post on April 8 that despite having a concrete house, Purnima had been allotted a new dwelling unit under the rural housing scheme.

“Several genuinely impoverished residents of the area, including a beggar named Harinath Barman, were left out,” Sarkar said in his post.

Sources said that after the social media post, some villagers had lodged complaints at the BDO’s office. The BDO probed the case and issued a letter to Purnima.

“In the letter, BDO Naskar has asked her to refund the money at the BDO office immediately. The letter also said Purnima didn’t qualify to be named as a beneficiary of the housing scheme,” said a source.

Munmun, sister of Dipankar’s wife, also came under the scanner. It was found that with the first instalment, she was building the house on a plot that didn’t belong to her.

“She stays in a different village and received the money to build the house on her father’s land. But she started building the house on Purnima’s land, that is, the mother-in-law of her sister,” the source added.

In the letter to her, Naskar said Munmun would have to build the house on her
father’s land.

Dipankar, the panchayat chief, admitted that his mother had received a notice from the BDO’s office seeking a refund. He said the funds had already been spent, and his family would seek some time from the block administration to return the money.

“Also, my sister-in-law would construct her house at the location specified by the block authorities,” he said.