West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday (November 13) set November 30 as the deadline for ineligible beneficiaries of the state's rural housing scheme to return funds they received in violation of eligibility norms, warning of stringent legal action against those who fail to comply, PTI reported from Kolkata.

Source: PTI

Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, Adhikari also ordered a CID probe, through a Special Investigation Team (SIT), into 57,000 suspected fictitious beneficiaries detected during a field verification exercise, alleging large-scale irregularities in the disbursement of public funds.

Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal said the 57,000 fake beneficiaries had applied illegally under the previous government's Banglar Bari project and were delisted. Of them, 12,000 had already received money, and those recipients have been asked to return the amount.

Reports based on the announcement said around 1,000 of the 12,000 recipients have returned the money, while the remaining 11,000 have been given the November 30 deadline to refund the first instalment of Rs 60,000 and avoid legal complications.

Source: Urban Acres / Anandabazar

"You must return the money by November 30 and spare yourselves possible legal complications," Adhikari said, according to PTI. He added that there would be legal action in the 57,000 cases and that investigators would have to find out how Rs 60,000 of public money reached each account.

The chief minister said government officials found to have facilitated the irregularities would also face strict action, including departmental proceedings. The Hindu reported that a SIT headed by a retired judge has been constituted to probe what Adhikari described as institutional corruption during the previous regime.

Source: The Hindu

The announcements came as the state government disbursed the second instalment of financial assistance under its West Bengal Awas scheme, transferring Rs 4,201.026 crore through RTGS to the bank accounts of 7,00,171 beneficiaries across the state, PTI reported.

What happens next turns on the November 30 refund deadline and on the CID-SIT investigation, which is expected to examine who recommended the ineligible names, how the money moved, and which officials approved the disbursements. The allegations of fictitious and ineligible enrolment have not been established against individual recipients in court.