Punjab government diverting MGNREGA funds: Manish Tewari

LUDHIANA: Union Minister Manish Tewari today accused the "cash starved" SAD-BJP government in Punjab of diverting MGNREGA funds for "other purposes" and claimed that the wages to be paid under the scheme was delayed by over two months.

The Congress MP from Ludhiana, in a statement issued here, said Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh had recently written to CM Parkash Singh Badal drawing his attention towards this lapse.

"It appears that the State Government is diverting the funds that it gets from the Central Government under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNERGA) as otherwise there is no reason why the wages should be delayed by months together when these must be paid within 15 days," the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said.

He claimed the Punjab government had delayed over 55 per cent of the wages amounting to over Rs 55 crore till the month of January beyond the stipulated time period.

"Shockingly, in Punjab, the wages have been delayed by over two months," Tewari said.

He stated that this was apparently because the state government was diverting the funds allocated by the Centre for various public welfare schemes like MGNREGA for other purposes.