'Irregularities in Swachh Bharat aid disbursal in Gurugram'

Irregularities have allegedly surfaced in the distribution of financial aid by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram for construction of toilets, a top civic body official has said.
MCG Commissioner V Uma Shankar told PTI that a special team has been set up to probe the irregularities that surfaced in an annual audit report.
The revelation was part of a response to an RTI application filed by a city-based activist SK Sharma, who obtained a copy of the audit report.
"There is a definite involvement of MCG officials who had given multiple grants to their known persons (contacts) and not adjusted the mischief in documents," Sharma said.

According to the report, 10 married couples had taken grants in individual names for construction of toilets.
As per the norms of the Swachh Bharat Mission, one identification number is issued for each toilet.

There were 20 such identification numbers to which officials had disbursed grants more than once. Fourteen addresses were also found to have received grants multiple times.
"We have constituted a special team to examine this matter. If anyone was given undue benefits, we will make sure to take back financial grant with fine," Uma Shankar said.
According to official data, the state government allocated Rs 37.33 lakh to the MCG in 2015 for the construction of toilets.

Beside, nearly Rs 10.80 lakh was also sanctioned on January 22, 2016, for the construction of 5,031 toilets. The MCG paid Rs 7,000 each to 4,970 beneficiaries through RTGS for the construction.