Dahod nips Rs 4.12-cr NREGA scam in the bud

The Dahod district administration claims to have prevented an embezzlement of Rs 4.12 crore meant as payment to farmers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

On Tuesday,Dahod District Development Officer (DDO) H N Thakkar filed a complaint against 48 officials of Fatehpura taluka,which includes one retired and one suspended taluka development officer,surveyors,engineers,20 sarpanchs and 20 talatis.

Thakkar said: The money would have been embezzled had our team not conducted the check on time,in the last week of July. We had information that payment to the tune of Rs 4.12 crore was being embezzled with the help of old musters.

He said when they checked the musters,they found the names of the accused persons.

As a corrective measure,payments under NREGA for Fatehpura taluka will not be made from the old muster rolls. Fatehpura has come under the scanner after muster rolls went missing from the taluka office and payments were made under false names.

We will not use any of the old muster rolls to pay the farmers. New rolls will be prepared,especially for Fatehpura taluka,as several scams have surfaced, Thakkar added.

The police have started investigations against the accused officials.

Investigations have started. We will record the statements of all the accused, said Sub-Inspector K B Rathwa.

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