Bhubaneswar : Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav ordered an investigation into poor implementation of three central schemes in Nabarangpur district of Odisha.
“I have asked officials of the Rural Development Ministry to probe implementation of MGNREGA, PMAY and PMGSY in Nabarangpur district. During my visit to the district, I found people are denied benefits of the schemes,” Yadav told PTI after completing his one day Odisha tour.
Yadav said his ministry has released Rs 1780.33 crore under MGNREGA for Odisha in 2016-17 and was surprised that poor people continued to migrate to other places in search of work in Nabarangpur.
“I suspect that the funds meant to provide work to poor people in their villages are not being implemented in Nabarangpur,” the Union Minister said.
Yadav, who visited Beheda village in Umerkote block of Nabarangpur district yesterday, said many men of the village have gone to Andhra Pradesh and the district administration has failed to stop migration.
The minister said that the villagers informed him that they have not been benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana even though the state government had been claiming that 10 lakh poor people have been provided with pucca houses.
He also expressed concern over implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in the district.
The Minister alleged that the district administration did not cooperate with him during his visit.
He said the district collector told him not to visit the naxal affected district and neither the collector nor the SP accompanied him during the visit breaching protocol.
Nabarangpur district collector Rashmita Panda, however, denied the allegation.
“Our sub-collector Gopal Swamy Naidu was the nodal officer for the Union Ministers visit. He was given adequate police protection and accompanied by officers. There has been no breach of protocol,” Panda told PTI.
On whether she discouraged Yadav to visit certain areas as they are naxal prone, she said, “This is not the fact. The minister has even visited places which are not mentioned in his programme.”
The collector said that she could not meet the minister because of the monthly video conferencing of all district collectors with the chief secretary.
Source: India Today
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