In sly remarks revealing his dissatisfaction about the way Central funds were being spent in Bihar, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday asked chief minister Nitish Kumar to ensure strict monitoring of schemes like MNREGS and Indira Awas Yojna (IAY).
Mixing his statements with subtle praise of Bihar’s NDA government during his two-day visit to the state that ended with a meeting with Mr Kumar, the Union minister said it was Mr Kumar who had himself told him about the misuse of MNREGS funds by representatives of other panchayati raj institutions such as mukhiyas.
“He (Mr Kumar) had himself told me about how vehicles were being purchased with this money (MNREGS). He told me during today’s meeting that the volume of such purchases had come down in the past few months. The state government should also keep strict vigil to avoid misuse of the funds under MNREGA and IAY,” said Mr Ramesh in an interaction with journalists.
“I want to make it clear that the MNREGS funds are not for purchase of vehicles,” said Mr Ramesh, wondering why the demand for MNREGS in states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa had remained low against all expectations about it being the highest in the country. He said his ministry had decided to make use of social audit and the CAG’s audit to monitor the functioning of the MNREGS and IAY schemes better.
Mr Ramesh criticised the Bihar government for lagging behind in implementing the clean drinking water scheme of the Central rural development department.