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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'UP misused 540 cr NREGS funds' by Swati Mathur

'UP misused 540 cr NREGS funds' by Swati Mathur

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published Published on Dec 12, 2011   modified Modified on Dec 12, 2011

Not allowing the dust to settle on the mismanagement of the Centre's flagship employment guarantee scheme in Uttar Pradesh, Sanjay Dixit, member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council, on Sunday, alleged UP has violated the norms of the scheme. In a letter to Union minister for rural development, Jairam Ramesh, Dixit has drawn attention to an MIS report generated by UP, which indicates details of expenditure on works where there is no spending on labour component.

Dixit has alleged there are over 80,000 work sites across 72 districts of UP where only material was purchased and the labour component was zero. Significantly, as per the provisions of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, labour component cannot be zero, where purchases worth crores have been made for a work. Calling this a "grave anomaly'' - amounting to misappropriation of over Rs 540 crore - Dixit has also demanded that the case be referred for investigation by Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) of India.

Interestingly, though Dixit's report refers to the MIS data of December 2, 2011, according to the Material Expenditure Report of December 11, generated on the MNREGS website, the state government appears to have undertaken 81,068 works during 2011-12, where the labour component was recorded as zero. According to this data, Unnao district, having undertaken a total of 3,220 works, has spent Rs 20.25 crore on purchasing materials. Other regions which appear to have made large-scale material purchases for works undertaken during 2011-12 are Siddharth Nagar (material worth Rs 17.41 crore bought for 2,489 works), Lakhimpur Kheri (material worth Rs 16.32 crore bought for 2,432 works) and Mirzapur (material worth Rs 15.66 crore bought for 1,110 works). However, the expenditure on the labour component in all these cases is nil. Thus, if one takes into consideration the data on website, the state has violated the Act.

Apart from notifying the violation of the Act to the Union ministry, Dixit has also alleged that the entries made on MIS are fake. Speaking to TOI, Dixit alleged, "These entries have been made in a hurry by the state to show the utilisation of funds to the Centre. In April 2010, during the gram panchayat elections, we received complaints that several crores were withdrawn from the MNREGS funds by pradhans, towards election expenditure. Now, these entires in the MIS data prove that many work sites where material was purchased did not, in fact, exist.''

This complaint against UP government comes close on the heels of a series of allegations levelled against the state government for having failed to take "appropriate'' action against officers who were indicted in inquiry reports. With the Centre-state spat heating up ahead of the assembly polls, allegations and counter-allegations have been flying thick and fast. A state government official, on condition of anonymity, said, "This is the time when people will indulge in petty politicking. As a result, the number of complaints against UP have gone up, while in all other states, where elections are not due, these matters are not being raised.''


The Times of India, 12 December, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/UP-misused-540-cr-NREGS-funds/articleshow/11075548.cms


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