Govt not implementing NREGS properly: Cong

Congress legislators today accused the government of not being able to utilise funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). They also said the state government had failed to provide jobs to real beneficiaries. Participating in supplementary queries during the question hour,MLA Makhan Singh claimed that in Kapurthala,”nothing much” had been allocated for jobs under the scheme. He said,“Many of those who have job cards and get wages are 80-90 years old.” Congress MLA Randeep Singh Nabha said a sum of Rs 132 lakh was allocated for Nabha district,out of which the government had been able to spend only Rs 16 lakh,and the remaining amount was being returned at the end of the current fiscal.

MLA Balbir Sidhu alleged,“No work is being given to beneficiaries. It’s only on paper.” Sidhu demanded that a committee be set up to ascertain the ground reality. “The government should pick up any area in my constituency and check the facts,” he said. Replying,Cabinet Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura said Punjab was allocated “only Rs 110 crore” last year and the government had demanded another Rs 1,500 crore under the NREGS.