-The Economic Times Congress sharpened its attack against BSP, with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh accusing the Mayawati government of embezzlingMGNREGA funds. In a letter to the chief minister, Ramesh asked the state government to seek a CBI probe into "violations and cases of deliberate embezzlement of funds" in the implementation of the Centre's flagship programme. Ramesh pointed to alleged siphoning of funds earmarked for the rural employment guarantee scheme in seven...
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Jairam for CBI probe into UP job plan graft by Prasad Nichenametla
Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh wants an urgent CBI inquiry into what he called brazen violation and deliberate embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in Uttar Pradesh. In a strongly worded letter to CM Mayawati — in the run up to the UP polls early next year — Ramesh described the inaction in dealing with the corrupt as a signal by the state to make money by openly flouting all procedures. "And...
More »Keeping track of wage payments for rural jobs scheme by Viswanath Pilla
The Smart Card Project is helping nearly 12.7 million poor people in Andhra Pradesh to get timely payment of wages It was conceived as a vehicle to promote financial inclusion by taking banking services to the unbanked poor, harnessing information and communications technology to ensure the benefits of public welfare programmes reach those they are intended for by plugging leakages. The Andhra Pradesh Smart Card Project, launched in 2007, is...
More »MGNREGA funds underutilised in Jharkhand: Jairam
-PTI Dismissing charges of any sort of unfair treatment towards Jharkhand on developmental issues, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said Jharkhand spent only 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes. “There is a propaganda that Jharkhand is being discriminated. It is totally wrong. This year Jharkhand could spend only Rs. 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes, though it can spend Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 crore under MGNREGA as it is a...
More »Centre in a bind over K'taka HC order on MNREGA by Subodh Ghildiyal
Chastened by the 'poverty line' controversy painting the Centre as insensitive to 'aam aadmi', the government is wary of challenging a Karnataka high court order which slammed the state for paying MGNREGA workers less than the minimum farm wages. The court said that job scheme wages could not be less than the minimum agricultural wages and ordered that workers be paid the arrears. The HC order would put an additional burden of...
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