Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh has asked UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to recommend a CBI inquiry into bungling in MNREGA funds in three districts — Gonda, Balrampur and Sonebhadra — where the size of the scam is believed to be the largest.
The chief minister is believed to have assured the Union minister that he would look into the matter and take action accordingly. The minister said that he had suggested three districts for the CBI probe because maximum bungling had been found here.
Talking to reporters after meeting the chief minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh said that he had asked Mr Akhilesh Yadav to recommend a CBI probe and send a strong message that his government was opposed to corruption.
“The CAG audit report on misuse of MNREGA funds in UP is already being prepared and I would prefer if the CBI inquiry is recommended before the audit report is released,” he said.
The minister lamented that there was a communication gap with the previous government in UP but asserted that he was not responsible for it. “We tried to communicate with the state government but the response was never there,” he said.
Mr Ramesh said that MNREGA had helped greatly in checking distress migration of labour and the railway revenue had actually suffered due to this.