The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of allowing repeated instances of fake attendance under the VB-G RAM G scheme, with party general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioning how many more wrongdoings the ruling party would commit in the name of Lord Ram.
Citing another alleged case of attendance fraud in Uttar Pradesh's Sant Kabir Nagar district, former Union Rural Development Minister Ramesh said similar irregularities had earlier been reported in Gorakhpur, prompting the government to issue a clarification after the Congress raised the matter.
"Cases of recording fake attendance through clone apps are repeatedly being exposed, which is an extremely serious matter," Ramesh said.
"Donations stolen in the name of Lord Ram, fake employment in the name of Lord Ram. How much more sin does the BJP have left to commit in the name of Lord Ram?" he said, referring to the Ram temple donation theft case.
Last month also, the Congress had slammed the BJP over reported attendance fraud within the VB-G RAM G scheme, saying that "attacking" the rights of the poor while invoking the name of Lord Shri Ram was its true modus operandi.
Ramesh had shared the screenshot of a media report which claimed that a method of fraud has come to light within the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or the VB G RAM G Act, scheme with a clone app, resembling the official National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app, being used to mark mass attendance using photos stored on mobile phones.
"First, the theft of donations made in the name of Lord Shri Ram; then, an assault on the right to 100 days of employment under MGNREGA; and now, a scheme of state-sponsored plunder of the poor through fake attendance records in the VB-G RAM G programme!" he had said.
Invoking the name of Lord Ram, yet striking at the poor and looting their right to employment, Ramesh had said.
"This is not merely corruption; it is a betrayal of faith and a theft of the poor's rights - all in the name of devotion and employment," he had said.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or the VB G RAM G Act, came into force across the country from July 1, replacing the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), introduced by the Congress-led UPA.
(With Inputs From PTI)
