MNREGS scams: Jairam raises heat,seeks info

In his letter to Patel,Ramesh wrote that “despite the ministry’s reminder,the state government has not submitted any explanation about the action taken in the complaints of financial irregularities in the MNREGS implementation”. The letter asked the state to send a report on the action taken and the pending complaints.

The union minister also wrote that new funds would be released shortly and asked the state government to ensure its timely use.

Fake job cards abound in villages

In the past two years,four major MNREGS scams have been reported from Saurashtra and Kutch. In all the cases,except one,police complaints have been filed and arrests made. In all these cases,fake job cards were prepared by local authorities in the names of unsuspecting villagers and money was siphoned from post office accounts.

In November 2010,a scam involving Rs 1 crore was detected in Kotda village of Kutiyana taluka in Porbandar district. A police complaint was registered against sarpanch Bhima Modha and post master Ramdev Odedara and two others. All of them were arrested in 2011. The MNREGS national monitor also conducted an inquiry later,but the report has not been made public as yet.

A similar scam was reported in Katvana village after complaints from locals that a total of 1,145 job cards were listed though there were only 333 adults in the village. No complaint has been filed in this case so far.

In Dhari village of Amreli district,a Rs 1.3-crore scam was reported in November 2010,which involved 42 projects under MNREGS.

A police complaint was filed against technical assistant Nayna Patel and assistant project officer Amarsinh Solanki. Investigation is under way.

In April 2011,a Rs 83-lakh scam was reported form Juna village in Bhuj taluka of Kutch district. Thirteen 13 persons,including the then talati M V Rao,have been arrested so far.