DIMAPUR:
Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president K Therie, on August 5, alleged that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds of the state are being siphoned off.
In a statement, Therie said Rs 483.82 lakh was released from the MGNREGA fund to the state during 2020-2021 and it was withdrawn. However, he said, he was told by some villagers that they received only seven days wage during that period, which accounts for just Rs 60 lakh.
“The remaining amount has been siphoned off,” he alleged.
Stating that misuse of the MGNREGA funds is not new in Nagaland, Therie said it is not only the material component but even the wage component that is being misused.
He said after induction, the MGNREGA beneficiaries in Nagaland have never received a full 100 days wage or the material components.
The NPCC chief also said there is a wrong interpretation of the convergence fund. He added that the meaning of convergence, as understood in the training when the scheme was launched by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, was that other departments’ development funds can be converted into the MGNREGA fund and the number of days’ wages can be increased to more than 100 days.
“However, in Nagaland, wages funds are converted into ‘special development activities’ and MLAs are distributing these funds,” he said.
Therie added, “Only those with unknown sources of income are thriving in the state. They are all money laundering cases. Corruption is rampant for the last 20 years.”