NO 1 News Portal of Punjab
MGNREGA under scanner in Jammu Kashmir
Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 20:00
By Bashir Assad
SRINAGAR: Though the phenomenon of trailing off whooping sums due to failure in expending in Jammu and Kashmir is not new, the Rural Development Department has taken a lead by leaving 26455 lakhs sanctioned under centrally sponsored MGNREGA unspent during the current fiscal year which is at the verge of closure.
Though lapsing the whooping sums by not spending on infrastructure development in key sectors in Jammu and Kashmir is not new, however, the difference between total funds allocated during 2011-12 under MGNREGA and the block-wise break-up of expenditure made till date shows that in all the twelve districts of Kashmir division including Leh and Kargil districts out of available 36607 lakhs made available during the year only 23279 lakhs have been expended, thereby leaving 13328 lakhs unspent. On the other hand, total funds made available for all the 10 districts of Jammu division during the same period was 41627 Lakhs out of which only 28500 lakhs were expended leaving a whooping 13127 lakhs unspent.
As against the total amount of 78235 lakhs only 51781 lakhs were spent as such leaving 26455 lakhs expended during 2011-12. However, the block-wise break-up of expenditure provided by the department in written reply to a question raised by PDP legislator A R Veeri has been disputed by certain Quarters including some MLAs of both opposition as well as the ruling National Conference-Congress coalition.
PDP leader and MLA Lolab Abdul Haq Khan while quoting instances said that he can prove that the expenditure incurred under the labour component has not been disbursed among the job-card holders who have executed the work under the scheme.
€I not only dispute the figures given under expenditure, I also strongly refute the claim of the Rural Development Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar that MGNREGA was a demand driven program€ Khan said adding further that it can be a demand driven program elsewhere but not in Jammu and Kashmir.
€MGNREGA has totally failed in the state to yield the desired results. Primarily, according to the guidelines the scheme was launched to ensure 100 days employment guarantee to the poor and needy, here poor and needy execute the work without wages€ MLA Lolab alleged. PDP leader while refuting the Sagar's statement that MGNREGA was demand driven, saying that panchayats formulate plans which are sent for administrative approval and if approved the works are executed but there are hundreds of examples which suggest that labours are not paid the wages and in some cases the department projects the demand in spill-over citing non-availability of funds as the reason. €If funds are available, then why labours are not paid wages?€ Khan said and added that there is large scale bungling in utilization of funds.
On the conditions of not to be named a senior legislator of ruling coalition said that there is fraud in execution, bungling in utilization and misappropriation of the available funds under MGNREGA. €Its execution is fraud, realization of wages is fraud as both labour and material component is misappropriated, in my constituency works under MGNREGA were executed to the tune of 48 lakhs in a particular village, all 48 lakhs have been withdrawn but even a single penny has not been paid to the labours. There was a perception that only material component of the scheme is misappropriated but I will give you many examples were labour component has been embezzled€ said the legislator.
According to the sources, there has been large scale corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA and other schemes of Rural Development department in rural Kashmir for last couple of year's locals from various blocks have been pressing social audit so as to expose the corrupt practices of the officials of Rural Development department.
In some states like Orisa Corruption Detection Tool (CDT) devised by CEFS has unearthed large scale bungling in implementation of MGNREGA. CEFS is absolutely certain that there has been open loot and massive financial bungling of NREGA funds in more than 95 percent of the villages selected in this list. In Jammu and Kashmir financial bungling has been committed in almost every village of where NREGA has been implemented so Social Audit Mechanism or Corruption Detection Tool (CDT) can act as deterrent in the state.
Implementation of NREGA needs a thorough probe in Jammu and Kashmir especially in the backdrop when legislators cutting across party lines complaint misappropriation of funds in their respective constituencies. More so when each and every aspect like expenditure in terms of material and labour components, availability of funds, spill-over methodology, and appointments made under NREGA is under public scanner.
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Punjab Newsline
Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 20:00
By Bashir Assad
SRINAGAR: Though the phenomenon of trailing off whooping sums due to failure in expending in Jammu and Kashmir is not new, the Rural Development Department has taken a lead by leaving 26455 lakhs sanctioned under centrally sponsored MGNREGA unspent during the current fiscal year which is at the verge of closure.
Though lapsing the whooping sums by not spending on infrastructure development in key sectors in Jammu and Kashmir is not new, however, the difference between total funds allocated during 2011-12 under MGNREGA and the block-wise break-up of expenditure made till date shows that in all the twelve districts of Kashmir division including Leh and Kargil districts out of available 36607 lakhs made available during the year only 23279 lakhs have been expended, thereby leaving 13328 lakhs unspent. On the other hand, total funds made available for all the 10 districts of Jammu division during the same period was 41627 Lakhs out of which only 28500 lakhs were expended leaving a whooping 13127 lakhs unspent.
As against the total amount of 78235 lakhs only 51781 lakhs were spent as such leaving 26455 lakhs expended during 2011-12. However, the block-wise break-up of expenditure provided by the department in written reply to a question raised by PDP legislator A R Veeri has been disputed by certain Quarters including some MLAs of both opposition as well as the ruling National Conference-Congress coalition.
PDP leader and MLA Lolab Abdul Haq Khan while quoting instances said that he can prove that the expenditure incurred under the labour component has not been disbursed among the job-card holders who have executed the work under the scheme.
€I not only dispute the figures given under expenditure, I also strongly refute the claim of the Rural Development Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar that MGNREGA was a demand driven program€ Khan said adding further that it can be a demand driven program elsewhere but not in Jammu and Kashmir.
€MGNREGA has totally failed in the state to yield the desired results. Primarily, according to the guidelines the scheme was launched to ensure 100 days employment guarantee to the poor and needy, here poor and needy execute the work without wages€ MLA Lolab alleged. PDP leader while refuting the Sagar's statement that MGNREGA was demand driven, saying that panchayats formulate plans which are sent for administrative approval and if approved the works are executed but there are hundreds of examples which suggest that labours are not paid the wages and in some cases the department projects the demand in spill-over citing non-availability of funds as the reason. €If funds are available, then why labours are not paid wages?€ Khan said and added that there is large scale bungling in utilization of funds.
On the conditions of not to be named a senior legislator of ruling coalition said that there is fraud in execution, bungling in utilization and misappropriation of the available funds under MGNREGA. €Its execution is fraud, realization of wages is fraud as both labour and material component is misappropriated, in my constituency works under MGNREGA were executed to the tune of 48 lakhs in a particular village, all 48 lakhs have been withdrawn but even a single penny has not been paid to the labours. There was a perception that only material component of the scheme is misappropriated but I will give you many examples were labour component has been embezzled€ said the legislator.
According to the sources, there has been large scale corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA and other schemes of Rural Development department in rural Kashmir for last couple of year's locals from various blocks have been pressing social audit so as to expose the corrupt practices of the officials of Rural Development department.
In some states like Orisa Corruption Detection Tool (CDT) devised by CEFS has unearthed large scale bungling in implementation of MGNREGA. CEFS is absolutely certain that there has been open loot and massive financial bungling of NREGA funds in more than 95 percent of the villages selected in this list. In Jammu and Kashmir financial bungling has been committed in almost every village of where NREGA has been implemented so Social Audit Mechanism or Corruption Detection Tool (CDT) can act as deterrent in the state.
Implementation of NREGA needs a thorough probe in Jammu and Kashmir especially in the backdrop when legislators cutting across party lines complaint misappropriation of funds in their respective constituencies. More so when each and every aspect like expenditure in terms of material and labour components, availability of funds, spill-over methodology, and appointments made under NREGA is under public scanner.
For more News visit
Punjab Newsline
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