HYDERABAD: The Centre’s decision to launch intense inspections with regard to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in several districts is snowballing into a political controversy, as the ruling TRS termed these inspections a political move and certainly not administrative.
The TRS alleges that the BJP which is at the dispensation of the Centre has been harassing Telangana on various fronts, despite Telangana being the top performing State in the country in terms of Per Capita Net State Domestic Product.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is learned to have decided to “expose” the Centre’s “double standards” towards Telangana which has been implementing MGNREGS successfully. In the light of the Centre bestowing awards on the Telangana government for strict implementation of the Employment Guarantee Scheme and social audit in the past, the CM has resolved to direct his MPs to call out the “conspiracies” of the Centre.
As per the directions of the pink party’s supremo, the TRS MPs are likely to rise the issue in Parliament. While the Centre has claimed to have found issues in taking up staggered trench works, the State government maintains that it has displayed all the works that are being carried out in the records and there is nothing to hide.
Numbers don’t lie
Statistics divulge that as many as 55,52,793 job cards have been issued in the State in 12,769 Gram Panchayats, and an estimated 7,52,582 works being carried out for the financial year 2022-2023. Meanwhile, IT Minister KT Rama told reporters that Telangana was No. 1 in the country in the implementation of MGNREGS. “We have constructed Palle Prakruti Vanams and Vaikuntha Dhamams. The Centre says that these works are against the guidelines. The Centre is creating trouble for the State,” he said.