Job bill: CPI objects to funds clause

The CPI on Saturday demanded that a clause in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, which allows the Centre to stop funding of schemes if any corruption was suspected, be ‘‘re-phrased’’. The party felt that the poor should not suffer due to corrupt practices of officials. ‘‘If the government sees any irregularities, the officials concerned should be made to pay the price. Why make the poor suffer? The clause should be re-phrased,’’ CPI general secy A.B. Bardhan told reporters on Saturday. — PTI