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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Irregularities come to the fore

Irregularities come to the fore

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published Published on Apr 3, 2011   modified Modified on Apr 3, 2011
The UPA government's flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has found itself in the eye of storm again. This time in a panchayat of the coastal district of Kendrapada thanks to an RTI activist.

RTI activist Niladri Bhusan Tripathy of Kendrapada recently sent a petition to the executive officer of Golarhat panchayat in Derabishi block of the district seeking information on the project expenditure under the MGNERGA towards "Mo Pokhari", Water Conservation and rural connectivity in the panchayat under MGNERGA in the past three years.

The information under Right to Information Act (RTI) of the MGNREGA programme in the panchayat has thrown up some embarrassing revelations. Irregularities of about Rs 70 lakh were reportedly found out in Golarhat Gram Panchayat under Patkura assembly constituency, which is the constituency of the senior BJD leader and former minister Bedaprakash Agrawalla.

Officially, the authority excavated 15 ponds of villagers at the cost of about Rs 6 lakh in 2009-10 years. But strangely, the authority spent Rs 36 lakh to excavate six ponds within 2010-11 under MGNERGA. During inspection, Tripathy came to know that only six ponds have actually been excavated.

"During our inspection, we came to know that the authorities hardly spent Rs 10 lakh to excavate the ponds," alleged Tripathy

A pond of Derabishi college was excavated at the cost of only Rs 3 lakh. But the authorities falsely claimed that they spent 9.60 Lakh to excavate the pond, said Tripathy.

Two earthen roads were not constructed in the village under MGNERGA. But the authorities stated that they constructed roads at the cost of Rs 17 lakh, alleged Tripathy.

The audit and spot inspection by the RTI activist found that in some cases substandard materials were used, JCB machines were used instead of labourers while job cards were not issued to ensure that the right people were paid

"It's crucial to the programme since this is a strong way to bring about transparency," says RTI activist Tripathy. "The act already provides for a social audit that the panchayats have to carry out but its not being conducted as effectively as the one here," said Tripathy.

"I have with me relevant documents on the MGNREGA scam," said Tripathy, while talking to mediapersons at Kendrapada on Thursday.

When contacted, BDO (Derabishi) Narotam Behera said all schemes, including NREGA, were being properly implemented in the Golarhar panchayat and its adjoining areas. "We are open for any probe or audit," he added. Similarly, Golarhat sarpanch Trilochan Rout has also denied any irregularities in the MGNERGA works in the panchayat.


The Times of India, 3 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Irregularities-come-to-the-fore/articleshow/7853414.cms


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