New Delhi/Bengaluru, Jan 22 (UNI) Senior BJP leader and union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday slammed the Congress headed Karnataka government, alleging large-scale corruption in the state under the MGNREGA scheme.
Addressing the media, Chouhan said the Congress has no commitment to the idea of national development, and claimed that development work has come to a standstill in Congress-ruled Karnataka.
He alleged that the party has abandoned its professed ideology of public welfare and has even strayed from the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, whom it once claimed as its guiding force.
“Congress talks about Mahatma Gandhi but has committed the sin of destroying his principles,” Chouhan said.
The union Minister also accused the Congress of turning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) into a hub of corruption.
“I am saying this with evidence. MGNREGA was converted into a centre of large-scale corruption under Congress rule,” he stated.
Citing instances from Karnataka, Chouhan referred to cases from Yadgir district, where, he alleged, fraudulent payments were made under MGNREGA, even becoming national and international headlines.
He pointed to findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which reported over 1.33 lakh irregularities, and alleged that recovery of more than Rs. 107 crore was deliberately not pursued.
Giving another example from Kalaburagi, Chouhan claimed that investigations by his ministry revealed blatant misuse of funds.
He alleged that machines were used instead of human labour, fake records were created, and payments were made without execution of work.
“Boundary walls were shown as toilets, pond excavation was misrepresented as rainwater harvesting, and the same work was broken into parts to repeatedly withdraw funds,” he claimed.
Chouhan further noted that even senior Congress leaders had publicly acknowledged flaws in MGNREGA.
He recalled that in 2012, Jairam Ramesh had questioned whether the scheme was limited only to digging and filling mud.
He also cited former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s 2011 admission of corruption in the scheme and Sonia Gandhi’s statement on the existence of fake job cards.
Taking a broader swipe, Chouhan said employment schemes have changed names over the years from Food-for-Work to Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, NREGA and MGNREGA, but questions over the intent and implementation remain.
“Is it a virtue when you do it and sin when we do it?” he asked. Chouhan said the BJP’s objective is clear.
“Following Mahatma Gandhi’s economic and social philosophy, our resolve is to build self-reliant, employment-rich and poverty-free villages,” he asserted.
The Centre has replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), abbreviated as VB-G RAM G, a move that has been criticised by the Congress party.
