BENGALURU: Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday strongly defended the Centre’s revamped rural employment programme, VB-G-RAM-G, alleging large-scale corruption and systemic irregularities under the MGNREGA during previous years, particularly under Congress-led governments.
Chouhan accused the Congress of being a “machine of lies” and alleged that the Karnataka government attempted to present false and misleading claims about the new scheme through the Governor. Chouhan said irregularities reported from Yadgir district had gained national and international attention.
Displaying newspaper clippings, he claimed instances where men dressed as women had allegedly siphoned off MGNREGA funds. He also referred to complaints from Aland taluk in Kalaburagi, following which his ministry ordered an inspection. During 2024-25, 21 works were sanctioned across five gram panchayats in Aland.
However, verification revealed that machines were used instead of manual labour, and fake records were created. In Kallur GP, construction of a school compound wall was allegedly shown as toilet construction, he claimed. In several cases, single works were split into multiple projects, funds were drawn without execution, and the same family names repeatedly appeared as beneficiaries.
Chouhan further alleged that desilting works were falsely claimed multiple times by dumping silt beside lakes, allowing it to wash back during rains, before claiming payments again. Despite the scope to recover Rs 107.78 crore, no action was taken in 3,551 cases by the State Government. Citing the CAG, he said Lokayuktas had recommended recovery of Rs 24.12 crore, but only Rs 2.47 crore was recovered. Comparing fund releases, Chouhan said Karnataka received
Rs 8,739.32 crore under the UPA between 2006-07 and 2013-14, while Rs 48,549.82 crore was released under the NDA. Nationally, the NDA released Rs 8.48 lakh crore compared to Rs 2.13 lakh crore under the UPA.
He noted that even Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and former PM Manmohan Singh, had acknowledged corruption in MGNREGA. Rejecting claims of weakening federalism, Chouhan said the new framework strengthens local self-governance, aligns with Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant villages, and focuses on transparency, accountability and real development rather than symbolic schemes.