GUWAHATI, May 25 - While physical progress of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) has been negligible in Assam, matters stand worsened by anomalies in the recruitment and salary disbursement process � something that has resulted in non-payment of salaries to the employees of the PMAY(U) Mission here since December last year.
Consultants (SLTC and DLTC professionals/officials) to the mission were recruited in two batches � 44 persons were appointed by the State government, while in the next batch, 91 persons were recruited by the Hyderabad-based Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).
The second recruitment violated relevant guidelines and was done without proper advertisement and interview, causing deprivation to local job-seekers. Strangely, these employees do not get salary directly from the Mission, as the amount first goes to ASCI, which deducts tax, TDS and even GST � at abnormally high rates � following which the remaining amount is handed over to the employees.
A Social Development Expert is allotted salary of Rs 45,000 but after the strange deductions he/she gets only Rs 25,000. Sources said that when the issue of six months� pending salary was taken up with the parent Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, it was revealed that the release of the second instalment of Central assistance had been pending because of non-receipt of normal data concerning the employees and their salary disbursement.
�It is because of the discrepancy in the salary paid to the ASCI-recruited persons that the Mission was not able to furnish the information for months despite repeated requests,� official sources told The Assam Tribune.
A letter (dated February 1, 2018) from the Ministry to the then Mission Director, PMAY(U), Dr Jeevan B, took serious note of the development and even questioned whether the actual salary had been paid to the engaged consultants. It also called for submission of the complete details of the consultants, viz., name, salary, disbursement details through banks, etc.
Since January till date, the ministry had sought information, including appointment dates and qualifications of the employees, several times but without any response from the Mission. Meanwhile, the Mission Director has also got transferred to another posting.
�All this goes to show that the recruitment process, as also the salary disbursement by ASCI, had serious anomalies and as a result the Mission is not in a position to furnish any information as sought by the ministry for months. There should be a thorough probe into the anomalies,� sources said.
Sources also questioned the need for having an MoU with the Hyderabad-based firm, saying that in Assam, various missions are going on without any third-party involvement from outside. �It�s ridiculous to say that the Government of Assam needs a third party to manage 135 employees. Also absurd is the fact that the organisation is charging GST/TDS of 28 per cent in salary,� sources said.
The Mission was started in the 2017-18 financial year and is currently functioning across all the 95 towns in 32 districts of Assam. A total of 55,634 Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) houses were sanctioned by the Government of India covering all the 95 towns but only 1,445 beneficiaries have got the first instalment for house construction. The BLC is one of the four components of the mission, the other three being Credit Link Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), and In Situ Slum Re-development (ISSR).
�There is no housing policy in Assam and nothing has happened in the other PMAY(U) components, like CLSS, AHP, and ISSR. Only the survey had been completed,� sources said.