Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Irregularities have cropped up in the ponds dug up under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in Purapatti village Panchayat in Badamalhara, Chhatarpur district.
MNREGA was launched to generate employment for the poor in rural areas. Digging up ponds is part of work under MNREGA, but the agencies dealing with the work are using machines instead of manpower, sources said.
The Sarpanch of the Purapatti village Panchayat is barely aware of any development work in the area. Because the Sarpanch hardly pays any attention to work, the Rozgar Sahayak is ruling the roost.
A few months ago, the chief executive officer probed the irregularities and ordered recovery of lakhs of rupees against the Rozgar Sahayak. Some senior officials, however, stopped the recovery, sources said.
The agencies carried out the work with the help of machines, depriving the poor of their livelihoods.
But they had drawn money in the name of making payment to the labourers, sources said.
The purpose of MNREGA is also to stop the migration of people from rural areas to other places in search of employment. But in Purapatti, a large number of villagers are leaving for Delhi and Mumbai in search of jobs, villagers said.
As the assistant Rozar Sachiv has political connections, the officials avoid acting against him, sources further said. Collector Parth Jaiswal said MNREGA was launched to provide employment to the poor in rural areas.
The administration will probe if machines have been used instead of manpower in digging up ponds, Jaiswal said. The collector further said the guilty would be punished, and he would speak to the chief executive officer about the issue.
