Nayagarh: The members of the Nayagarh Zilla Parishad expressed their concern over siphoning off of funds received under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) at its 10th general body meeting held at the conference hall of DRDA.
They said that during the Covid19 pandemic time and in 2020-21 fiscal Rs 22 crore was sanctioned under MGNREGS for Nayagarh forest division. Of it, so far only Rs 9 crore has been spent. Similarly, Rs 16 crore was received under CAMPA and the total amount was spent.
The members alleged that of the total Rs 25 crore received under MGNREGS and CAMPA, only Rs 5 crore was spent and the rest Rs 20 crore was embezzled. The forest department officials who were present at the meeting were in a fix after not being able to answer the questions raised by the members.
Referring to the fact that some officials who are involved in the corruption have been transferred, the members demanded for formation of a committee to probe the allegations.
Keeping the members’ concern in view, a five-member committee has been constituted and this committee will start its investigation from Ranpur range under Khurda forest division.
Thereafter, it will probe into the corruption allegations in different ranges under Nayagarh forest division. The members further alleged that even though there was fertiliser scam in the district, no officer from the agriculture department was present at the meeting.
So, a show-cause notice has been served to the agriculture department. Similarly, journalists were not invited to the meeting. Even if they come on their own to collect news, they were misbehaved and asked to leave.
So the members demanded the district correspondents should be invited to the meeting. A proposal in this regard was passed in the meeting.
Pointing out that the BDO is dilly-dallying in showing the list where the money received from Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water departments by the district council on the basis of Fifth Finance Commission’s recommendation was spent, the members expressed their dissatisfaction.
All the BDOs except for Nayagarh and Odagaon BDOs have been asked to furnish their lists at the earliest.
At the meeting, the Works department informed the meeting that the Sharankul bypass will begin from Katarajhari bandh and reach Shikharpur Agyanchaura and from there it will go up to Odagaon road via Karada Sasan village end.
This apart, a proposal to construct a road from Kantilo to Tentuliapalli via Dahikhai and Patharadwara under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was also accepted at the meeting. For this road, there was MP’s proposal as well.
PNN