New Delhi: Rural Development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan charged on Sunday that corruption was rampant under the MGNREGA and accused the Congress of spreading misinformation on the VB-G RAM G scheme.
Addressing a press conference here, Chouhan slammed the Congress for its upcoming campaign against the VB-G RAM G scheme and asked why Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not present in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the issue.
“The Congress has announced a MGNREGA Bachao Sangram. It is actually a save corruption campaign,” he said.
“MGNREGA had become synonymous with corruption. Under social audits done by gram sabhas, there were more than 10,51,000 complaints. The same work was repeated, work was done by machines, money was siphoned off in the name of cleaning canals, roads, 30 per cent workers were above the age of 60,” Chouhan said.
“An amount of more than Rs 8,48,000 crore has been given under the (Narendra) Modi government, while over Rs 2 lakh crore were given during the (Congress-led) UPA (regime). Were permanent assets created? Could the money be used for development?” he asked.
“The Congress is a factory of lies. It is now saying that workers will not get work,” the Union minister said, while asserting that the interests of workers would be better protected under VB-G RAM G. Chouhan said in the next financial year, an amount of Rs 1,51,282 crore would be allocated for the scheme, of which, the Centre’s share would be more than Rs 95,600 crore.
“There is enough money for 125 days. It will also ensure the development of villages,” he added.
Asserting that “VB-G RAM G is a better scheme than MGNREGA”, he said, “My appeal to the Congress is that it should not spread misinformation and lies. Instead, it should thank PM Narendra Modi for making this scheme better.”