'Modi govt responsible for Rs 935-cr misappropriation in NREGA funds'

New Delhi: Holding the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for reported irregularities in rural employment scheme, the Congress on Saturday alleged that Rs 935 crore had been misappropriated in MGNREGA schemes over the last four years and the government has failed to check corruption.

The party also demanded that the government restore the four per cent quota for differently-abled persons in police forces.

Citing a media report, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the significant outcome of the social audit unit was that the primary type of misappropriation in most cases was 'financial misappropriation' which includes and is not limited to bribery, payments to non-existent persons and to vendors at inflated procurement prices.

As per a report, Social Audit Units under Rural Development Departments across India found financial irregularities of Rs 935 crore under various schemes of MNREGA. Citing the findings of the report, Khera said that of the 'whopping' Rs 935 crore misappropriated, only Rs 12.5 crore, which is 1.34 of the misappropriated amount, stands recovered.

These numbers are the outcome of audits done by social audit units under the Rural Development Department of the Ministry of Rural Development, he told at a press conference.

The very fact that misappropriations has been happening is a testament to the lack of accountability and due diligence by the Modi government, the Congress leader alleged.

"The Congress demand that the government of India recovers the misappropriated amount at the earliest and ensures that the recovered money is used to compensate the poor and marginalised who have suffered a lot due to Covid-19 mismanagement," he said.

The Congress leader claimed that Tamil Nadu had the highest misappropriation of Rs 245 crore between 2017–18 and 2020-21, and in Bihar, Rs 12.34 crore was misappropriated.