JAGATSINGHPUR: Irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Tiruna village under Jagatsinghpur’s Naugaon block have come to fore.
However, officials apparently detected false records were uploaded and acted to rectify the mistakes. As per guidelines, MGNREGS job card holders must be listed on the muster roll and pictures of them working on different projects should be uploaded on the National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS) application twice a day - in morning and afternoon - to ensure transparency and curb corruption. However, in several instances, inflated bills were uploaded, falsely indicating that workers had been deployed for a longer duration than they actually worked.
A total of 172 job card holders were engaged in the excavation of the Amrit Sarovar at Balisar near Hanuman Temple in Tiruna panchayat for a single day on March 22, and their pictures were uploaded on the platform.
Meanwhile, records uploaded on the NMMS appplication falsely claimed that the workers were engaged for six days, from March 22 to 28, and bills were prepared at a rate of Rs 43,688 per day, at a daily wage rate of Rs 254 per worker. Locals claimed that no works were undertaken at the Amrit Sarovar site.
Tiruna sarpanch Laxman Swain said although excavation works were carried at Amrit Sarovar last year, the panchayat had not assigned the project to the block office under MGNREGS and was unaware of any recent work at Balisar.
He stated that workers who were deployed for the excavation works last year are yet to receive their wages worth Rs 5 lakh. Social activist Niranjan Sahoo verified the NMMS app and discovered discrepancies in wage records. Upon reporting the issue to higher officials, it was found that although the total attendance for 172 job card holders was uploaded but cash payments were marked as zero on March 27.
Tiruna ADEO Bisobijoyee Swain admitted to the irregularities, acknowledging that false work records were created and, as a result, no payments were made for this work. After receiving complaints, officials marked the payments as zero on the NMMS app. Assistant executive engineer Ankita Jalli declined to comment on the issue.
The BDO in-charge of Naugaon Ashutosh Mishra stated that he had not received any complaints regarding the irregularities in Tiruna panchayat and was unaware of the misappropriation.