Ramesh arrives, state Cong keeps distance

PCC unhappy with minister’s growing proclivity towards BJP govt

Also upset over selection of Kanker district and Gatapar for MNREGA award, alleges govt presented fake data

Raipur, February 02, 2013

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh arrived in the state capital on Saturday. He will tour to Sukma and Bijapur districts on Sunday and Monday to review progress of his departmental works. Unlike his previous visits, the state Congress maintained distance from him this time for ignoring its complaints regarding grafts in MNREGA works in Chhattisgarh and picking Kanker district and Gatapar gram panchayat for MNREGA award. The principal opposition alleges that the state government produced fake data to win the award.

The Congress has been raising corruption in implementation of MNREGA works in different parts of the state for the past 12-14 months. The party’s monitoring committee has toured to different districts and fetched information pertaining to grafts in MNREGA. The party has not only informed about it to Ramesh during his previous visits, but also submitted comprehensive reports against the state government.

The Congress claims that the BJP government had completely failed to implement MNREGA in state. According to Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla neither the registered MNREGA workers were getting jobs, nor contractors maintaining quality of works.

He said the party’s monitoring committee found massive irregularities in MNREGA works in Kawardha, Rajnandgaon, Jashpur, Balrampur, Bastar, etc. He charged that the government was carrying out MNREGA works only in papers and showing fake labour payments.

Although, the party says Ramesh is touring Chhattisgarh rural pockets every month due to abject condition of MNREGA works, it is actually worried over the minister’s growing proclivity towards the BJP government.

The state Congress wants Ramesh to criticise the state government overtly over corruption in MNREGA works, but the minister never met its desires.

The PCC has complained to high command several times that the union ministers ignore it during their state visits and rather praise the government. Ramesh is another union minister against whom the PCC plans to complain to the senior leadership for neglecting it.