Dead man comes alive for MGNREGS wages

Imagine a dead man coming alive to receive wages and a paralytic patient working for a road-laying project.

Yes, it’s possible, say the documents pertaining to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at Marodi Gram Panchayat in the taluk.
Ramanna ‘worked’ under the Scheme between March 20 and March 30, earning Rs 1,250 as wages.

The reality is otherwise, He had passed away about one-and-a-half-years ago.

Rathnakar Indra ‘toiled’ for a road-laying project almost during the same period.

He had been paralytic for the last five years. The list doesn’t end here and surprises galore.

A physically-challenged Narayana Moolya has ‘worked’ for 11 days on the construction of a vented dam. Gangamma, who cannot walk is enlisted as a worker for a road project.

Irregularities

The Peradi unit of the CPM has claimed large-scale irregularities to siphon off the MGNREGS funds in the Dakshina Kannada district.

According to the memorandum it submitted to the Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer, documents had been created t o show that several projects were taken up in a span of days between March 20 and March 30.

Huge sums of money had been claimed as wages for the proejcts that existed only on paper.

The names of two anganwadi workers, a student and two bank employees also figure in the list of ‘beneficiaries.’

Majority of the works have been executed in the month of March. An inquiry had been ordered into the misappropriation of funds.