Raghunandan Rao accuses State Govt of diverting Rs.1000 crore from MGNREGS funds

Raghunandan Rao said the Centre had released Rs.1200 crore six months ago for MGNREGS, but the State government utilized only Rs.200 crore and diverted the remaining Rs.1000 crore for other purposes

Hyderabad: Accusing the Congress government of weakening the gram panchayats, BJP MP from Medak M Raghunandan Rao alleged that the Revanth Reddy government had diverted Rs.1000 crore released by the Centre for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to other works.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Raghunandan Rao said the Centre had released Rs.1200 crore six months ago for MGNREGS, but the State government utilized only Rs.200 crore and diverted the remaining Rs.1000 crore for other purposes. The financial condition of gram panchayats in the State was alarming as they were not able to pay even their power bills and the State government was utilising the funds sanctioned to them for other purposes, he said.

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The State government had so far not submitted utilisation certificates for the works undertaken under the MGNREGS, due to which the Centre had not released an additional Rs.600 crore for the State, he said.

Commenting on Indiramma houses, the BJP MP said BJP was against distribution of houses through Indiramma Committees as all the members were selected by Congress leaders. “Indiramma houses are being constructed with the Centre’s funds, hence, if the government tried to distribute houses through these committees, the BJP will oppose it,” he said.