HYDERABAD: The Centre has decided to send more teams to Telangana to scrutinise the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) works in the state. This follows the earlier inspections by Central teams from June 9 to 12 that found several irregularities and lapses in the scheme in Telangana.
The move is expected to intensify the tussle between BJP-led government at the Centre and TRS government in the state when the state is battered by heavy rains. The earlier inspection highlighted issues such as taking non-permissible work (construction of food grain drying platform), noncompliance of guidelines related to desilting of minor irrigation tank works, taking staggered trenches work in plain areas, whereas, such works are useful in hilly regions, splitting of works to avoid approval of superior technical authority and other procedural violation of guidelines.
A release issued by the Union ministry of rural development on Thursday said, “Keeping in view such implementation issues and lapses, the Centre felt the need to deploy more teams to conduct a thorough scrutiny of implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS so that necessary course correction in process of implementation of scheme may be carried out by the state government." The teams will visit Nizamabad, Peddapalli, Medak, Siddipet, Suryapet, Karimnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nirmal, Jayashanksar Bhoopalapally, Mahbubabad, Sangareddy, Rangareddy, Adilabad, Siricilla and Mulugu district.
Each team will comprise 3 members led by a Director/Deputy Secretary rank officer and include one Engineer. Each team will visit four to six gram panchayats in two blocks of the district covering the works related to desilting of minor irrigation tanks, staggered trenches, road side plantation works and other works under MGNREGA.
The central focus of visit is to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the scheme. “Monitoring of implementation of MNREGA is one of the regular activities of the Ministry of Rural Development. The purpose of this exercise is to test check the actual implementation of the scheme on the ground for course correction, if any, ensuring faithful adherence to the scheme guidelines and philosophy and transparency in execution,” the release stated. The primary responsibility for ensuring adherence to the scheme protocols and guidelines rests with the state. States have been encouraged to set up various monitoring mechanisms, viz. inspection by the State HQ and programme official, social audit, Ombudspersons etc. The failure of these mechanisms is worrisome, it added.
