Gujarat pooh-poohs Deshmukh`s allegations on MNREGA

Gujarat Government on Monday took strong exception to Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's allegations about irregularities in MNREGA.

Deshmukh on Sunday had said that irregularities in the implementation of MNREGA in Gujarat would be probed.

Reacting to his allegations, state government spokespersons-ministers Jay Narayan Vyas and Saurabh Patel said that Gujarat's records in implementation of projects for the rural poor are impeccable and have been lauded by the Planning Commission and experts for its transparency.

"The state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi has during the last 10 years given a new direction to pro-poor policies and programme implementation. In a revolutionary movement of sorts, over 26,000 Gram Sabhas have been organised at 350 Garib Kalyan Melas to directly help 39 lakh poor families literally at their doorstep with financial assistance or gadgets to supplement their income," the spokespersons said.

Referring to the Union Minister's allegations that meeting of the monitoring committee has not been convened, the spokespersons said that the central government has to give suggestions on the names of the members of the committee in case of reformation of it, which the Centre has never cared to furnish.MNREGA demands that after 60 per cent of the allocation, the central government has to be approached for the remaining 40 per cent. "Gujarat got Rs 492 crore from Centre in February 2011 and there is no question of any saving on it. About 1.1 million poor have got jobs in the state under the scheme," they said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the allegations that the Gujarat government is not using the Central fund under Indira Awas and SGSV schemes, Vyas said, "These allegations are baseless and meant to lead off track. Under Indira Awas scheme Gujarat got Rs 519.35 crore and added its share of Rs 151.42 crore to spent Rs 743.30 crore. Gujarat is the only state to provide housing units to all the BPL beneficiaries in list 0-16 points. The Centre should better shun Gujarat bashing and take a cue from Gujarat’s success stories to implement elsewhere in the country."