MGNREGA fund misuse continues

Our Correspondent
Palampur, December 2

Despite the fact that the government has made all gram panchayat pradhans accountable for proper utilisation of funds allotted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other schemes, there are reports of bungling in the funds.

Bhawarna block has received complaints of fund misuse by panchayat members. During investigation, the BDO detected the names of the wives of panchayat representatives on the rolls of MGNREGA works.

Their names were added to the rolls only to withdraw the salary from government treasury without any work. In some cases, the salary had been credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Later Block Development Officer Kesar Singh summoned the representatives of panchayats, along with the beneficiaries, to his office and directed them to delete their names immediately. But they were not punished.

In a letter written to DCs, the government has said there should be no misuse of funds. Panchayats have been told to use new software provided to them and enter the details of the works, the amount disbursed and received regularly. This will be updated on a daily basis depending on the implementation of the scheme.

The government is examining a proposal to establish its separate engineering cell for utilisation of funds for the rural development schemes.