UP patronising corrupt under rural job scheme: Ramesh

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Saturday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government, accusing it of patronising the corrupt under the rural job scheme.

Talking to reporters here, Ramesh said due to the irregularities in implementation he often wondered whether the central government should stop giving any more funds to the state government under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

Ramesh said he had written five times in the past 18 months to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to act against errant bureaucrats but the state government has chosen to patronise the corrupt.

The Congress leader, while saying that the state government should recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into corruption in the scheme, claimed women and Dalits were being deprived of work in the state.

Ramesh said even the state government had admitted to irregularities in seven districts.