CHENNAI: In yet another corruption expose, 80 people who are either dead or do not exist have been drawing salaries under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Scheme in Kancheepuram district. Two persons, who were in-charge of registering names under the scheme, have allegedly swindled over Rs 11 lakh since March this year.
“I stumbled upon the fraudulent activity when I went to the MGNREGA website to check how many days my father had worked. Later, when checking for a relative, I entered a wrong ID number and it showed details of a person who had died several months ago,” says T Manikandan.
V Gunasekaran, on behalf of the villagers in Kilar, has filed a complaint at the Kancheepuram Collectorate and tehsildar’s office. The complaint said two people belonging to a political party in the locality were in-charge of compiling names of people eligible for the 100-day scheme and had swindled money.
After enquiries around the village, the youth found that four women had received two ID cards. While they thought it was a mistake, we found out that the in-charge had added the names twice with two different bank accounts, said Gunasekaran.
“The duo are compiling names for the past 10 years. We recently found out that several names in the register are fake and 24 of them are dead,” said Gunasekaran. From Kilar village, 953 people work under the MGNREGA scheme. Manikandan suspects the scam has been going on since March this year.
The complainant has attached two sheets of names with their addresses and status of existence. The youth started gathering details of villagers under the scheme with data available at the registry. They have tagged the fraudulently added names as ‘Outstation’, ‘Unknown’, ‘Double entry’ and ‘Dead’ - in the list submitted at the Collectorate.
Speaking to TNIE, Kancheepuram Collector M Aarthi, said, “The issue is being looked into. After a thorough investigation, the RDO and other officials will be directed to take necessary action against the accused.”