News Edition 24 Desk: Often under the scanner for charges of anomalies and mismanagement, MGNREGS again is making headlines in Madhya Pradesh after workers employed in the scheme were given Re 1 daily wage.
The bizarre report is received from Kusmi, a tribal-dominated area in the Sidhi district.
Under the Bhadora gram panchayat, a stop dam was built on the Bashara nullah in the district recently under the MGNREGS. However, after the government staffers offered them peanuts as payments, the upset labourers stopped working and are now planning to switch to metro cities for finding work, locals said.
As elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh, the administration had provisioned to offer work to local labourers during the lockdown period in Sidhi. However, the lower-level staffers of the Zila and Janpad panchayats engaged in massive anomalies in these works, alleged sources.
According to information recieved, in areas like Sihawal and Rampur Naikin, instead of offering works to the local workforce, the works were allegedly carried out by JCB machines. In the Kusmi area, the local sub-engineer Anit Deepankar haphazardly calculated the wages and in all, 29 labourers engaged in the said work only accumulated Rs 174 for six days of work. Local Congress leaders also protested the act raising a complaint with the sub-divisional magistrate.
The SDM, RK Sinha, speaking to News18, said that he has directed the local tehsildar to probe into the matter and added action will be taken against those responsible for the act.
The UPA government flagship scheme has been embroiled in all sorts of controversies in the State in the past including fake job cards, delayed payments and financial anomalies.