NEW DELHI, November 18, 2011
Jairam targets Mayawati again
K. Balchand
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh
PTI Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh
Says she failed to act against officials who swindled MGNREGS funds,
presses for CBI probe
The war of words between the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party in
the run-up to the Assembly elections has intensified, with a Union
Minister blaming Chief Minister Mayawati for failing to act against
officials who had allegedly swindled funds of a Central government
scheme in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh shot off a second
letter to Ms. Mayawati who, instead of responding to his first letter,
wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing him of indulging in
politics.
As Ms. Mayawati shot down the proposal for a probe by the Central
Bureau of Investigation into the embezzlement of the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme funds, Mr. Ramesh has once
again pressed for the investigation, pointing out that she had reneged
on her promise to act against officials whom she had held responsible
for the misappropriation.
In his November 14 letter, Mr. Ramesh said that on March 30, 2010, Ms.
Mayawati told journalists that Raj Bahadur, chief development officer
of Gonda, would be placed under suspension but departmental action was
yet to be taken. This, he said, highlighted how corrupt officials
evaded punishment because of their proximity to the powers that be.
He told Ms. Mayawati that she herself would realise the sad and
regrettable situation if she verified the action taken, as no
employee, let alone any senior officer, was touched and no money was
recovered even 19 months after her announcement.
"No FIR filed"
The 14-page letter cites several instances of irregularities and the
names of officials allegedly responsible, pointing out that enquiry
reports were ignored and no First Information Report was filed in some
cases, even three years after these cases surfaced.
The irregularities, Mr. Ramesh said, only underscored how effectively
the State government had acted. The government's callousness had
prevented the benefits of the scheme from reaching the poor.
Referring to Ms. Mayawati having referred some of these cases to the
Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Mr. Ramesh said the EOW had not
effectively investigated other irregularities referred to it.
He hoped that she would agree to his proposal for a CBI inquiry into
the irregularities committed in Balrampur, Gonda, Mahoba, Sonbhadra,
Kushinagar, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar districts.
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