Buxar: Villagers and public representatives staged protests at block offices across Buxar district on Monday, alleging irregularities in the preparation of the provisional beneficiary list under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G). They alleged that several deserving poor families had been excluded while financially well-off households had been included in the list.The protests followed the publication of the draft list, which has triggered resentment in several panchayats. While villagers demanded a fresh review of the list, officials maintained that the selection process was still underway and that objections would be examined before the final list was prepared.At the Dumraon block office, the protest was led by Mungav panchayat mukhiya Indal Singh and attended by public representatives, social activists and villagers. The protesters alleged that families living in poor conditions had been left out, while some households with permanent concrete and multi-storey houses had been included.Kanjharua panchayat mukhiya Asgar Ali questioned the verification process and alleged that some housing assistants were relying on third parties instead of coordinating with elected panchayat representatives. The protesters demanded an impartial inquiry into the preparation of the list and called for greater transparency in field inspections.They also sought the disclosure of photographs and geo-tagging data collected during verification to establish whether physical inspections had been conducted properly. At the end of the protest, they submitted a memorandum to the Dumraon block development officer, seeking a comprehensive review of the list and an impartial inquiry into the alleged irregularities.In Chaugain block, the exclusion of 1,014 people from the provisional list also triggered resentment. Former Ojha Baraon panchayat mukhiya Vinod Kumar Ojha said the large number of exclusions had raised concerns among villagers, who were demanding a review of the survey findings.According to District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), 1,24,154 potential beneficiaries were identified during the initial survey across the district. Following multiple levels of scrutiny, 40,087 people were found eligible under the prescribed criteria, while 84,067 names were excluded at different stages of verification.DRDA director Arvind Kumar said gram sabhas were being held in panchayats to discuss the beneficiary lists and examine claims and objections raised by villagers. He said the list was provisional and the verification process had not yet been completed.Deputy development commissioner Niharika Chhavi said the list had been generated using AI-based software and subsequently subjected to multi-level verification. However, in view of complaints from different areas, the administration would examine the allegations and objections before finalising the list.Officials said the gram sabha process was intended to provide villagers with an opportunity to raise objections and ensure that genuinely eligible families were not left out of the final beneficiary list.
