Dimapur, June 13 (MExN): The Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) today asserted that the State Government must be “answerable on the allegations made against the Rural Development (RD) department on misuse of public fund.’
Reacting to the Nagaland State VDB Association (NSVDBA) June 12 statement in response to allegations of “financial scam” against the RD, the forum stated that the association is not right authority to respond on behalf of Government.
Instead, VDB should only clarify on whether MGNREGA funds continues to be disbursed to the job card holders directly for those beneficiaries who do not have bank account to access direct benefit transfer (DBT), it said.
Further, It should also clarify whether it is true that government deposit in the joint account of VDB through an Account Payee cheque to be disbursed to the beneficiaries directly, NPRRAF stated.
The VDB should also explain whether it is true that substantial deductions are made by the board on account of expenses incurred on behalf of the MGNREGA job card holders to receive the fund from the Government, it stated.
The NPRRAF further demanded that the VDB enlightens the public regarding the number of job card holder beneficiaries through DBT account transfer and number of job card holders who receives in cash through VDB with district wise break-up.
“The VDB is also requested to clarify, giving a district wise break-up enlightening general public which district receives more of man-day wages,” the forum added. It further wanted to know whether 100 days employment wage guaranteed by MGNREGA Act 2005 is implemented in totality by the department and if so, which district fully implements as per Government of India guidelines.
