Fraudulent employment: Relative of village leader hired as workers through MGNREGS.

In Naugaon, the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which aims to provide work opportunities to laborers in their own areas and prevent migration, has been facing ongoing issues. According to sources, a woman who serves as a sarpanch (head of a village council) in Jagatsinghpur district has been discovered to have included the names of three of her family members as laborers under the scheme.

It is worth noting that individuals who hold job cards are eligible to apply for work through this scheme, and upon approval, the administration provides 100 days of employment to these laborers. In an effort to improve the implementation of the scheme, the Centre has assigned additional duties to block development officers as programme officers and appointed assistant programme officers to supervise the process. Furthermore, Gram Rojgar Sevaks and Gaon Sathis have also been appointed to ensure that the scheme is properly implemented at the panchayat level. The Centre has also mandated the use of the NMMS app to increase transparency in the implementation of the scheme.

Despite these measures, irregularities continue to occur in the execution of the scheme. A recent example is the case of Kabita Nayak, the sarpanch of Shikhar gram panchayat under Naugaon block in Jagatsinghpur district, who enrolled three of her family members as laborers under the scheme. According to records on the MGNREGS portal, Nayak's husband, son, and daughter have all worked as laborers under the scheme in the 2022-23 financial year. Reports indicate that they have been assigned work on various projects, including the renovation of Amrut Sarovar and Hura pond, and have been paid wages for their work.

In the following financial year, Nayak's family members continued to receive work opportunities and wages under the scheme, causing further suspicion and concern. Ratnakar Tarai, the observer for the BJP's Scheduled Caste Morcha, has raised questions about how the family members of a sarpanch who are not in need have been able to benefit from a scheme that is meant to help impoverished laborers. He has called for a thorough investigation into these irregularities, including the improper use of the NMMS app to document the enlisted laborers.

Attempts to contact sarpanch Kabita Nayak for her comments on the issue were unsuccessful as she did not respond to questions and ended the call. The Block Development Officer, Tapan Mohapatra, has stated that the allegations will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation.

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