M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 30: BJP MLA Dr Kushwaha Shashibhushan Mehta from Panki exposed irregularities in the schemes of MNREGA in the block at a press conference on Sunday.
Dr Mehta said a kilometre away from the Panki block office, roads at the village Barwaiyya under the Dhub panchayats were substandard and that he had to get the two-km-road repaired out of his own funds. He claimed to have spent Rs 1.62 lakh in the endeavor.
Under the MNREGA scheme apparently, another 500 meters of the road is estimated to cost Rs 4,97,000.
Claiming a scam under MNREGA, the BJP MLA said the inflated costs are resultant of presence of middlemen. He further added that a sum of Rs 82,000 has been withdrawn from the estimated Rs 4,97,000 without any work being done and raised fingers at BDO, junior engineer, rozgar sewak, etc.
The MLA further claimed to have sent a two-page complaint to CM Hemant Soren along with the state MGNREGA commissioner, divisional commissioner, deputy commissioner and deputy development commissioner. He further urged the authorities to inquire the matter.
Mehta further protested that Panki block office has become cesspool of corruption and middlemen. He said if this is the way of corruption and fraud in the MGNREGA scheme barely one kilometre away from the block office Panki then one can imagine the magnitude of the corruption in this scheme in the far flung areas.
Mehta said the Panki block office is the cesspool of middlemen and corruption. He blamed the state government for not posting officers of integrity for any longer period of time here.
He said that Panki assembly constituency is such where one officer holds as many as two or three additional charges which is bound to affect the dedication and commitment towards the works of the government.
