Funds for developing only floating village at Loktak allegedly misused

Several officers and offices of the Manipur government have been accused of data manipulation, fund embezzlement, identity theft or fraud

Will it be possible to carry out pucca blacktopping of roads in a village that is floating in a unique way inside the Loktak wetland region and villagers build their houses on the ‘phumdis’ that floats on the water?

Well, a response to an RTI application filed by environmentalist Ram Wangkheirakpam of the Indigenous Perspectives revealed that 5 projects including ‘blacktopping all weather road’ are being implemented in the floating Champu Khangpok village under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana for the year 2019-20.

Several officers and offices of the Manipur government have been accused of data manipulation, fund embezzlement, identity theft or fraud, and deceiving the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. This comes following the RTI response given by the Directorate for Welfare of OBC &SC, Government of Manipur.

The Champu Khangpok Floating Village Welfare Committee has alleged that the government officials created 110 ghost populations of the Champu Khangpok Village in the Bishnupur district and have taken up five ghost projects including the construction of a community toilet, providing emergency ambulance, internet connectivity to the whole village and surprisingly the pucca blacktopping of all-weather roads and installation of street lights in the village.

While the projects amount to a total of Rs 20 lakh, the committee said that the funds released for Champu Khangpok have never reached the village and no works have been taken up in the floating village.

It is alleged that the officials have stolen the funds in the name of the marginalized population of Champu Khangpok.

In this regard, the committee had also lodged a complaint to the Anti-Corruption Cell at the CM’s Secretariat yesterday seeking immediate action against the officials involved in the funds’ misuse.

It may be mentioned that Champu Khangpok village is the only floating village in the middle of Loktak Lake which has been declared a census village by the state government in 1991.

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