New Delhi: Pitching for immediate reforms in the Centre's flagship rural job scheme MGNREGA, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said the complaints of corruption and irregularities regarding the scheme cannot be ignored.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi also expressed concern over delay in wage payment to MGNREGA workers, emphasising the need to ensure that they get it within 15 days.
"Talks about reform in MGNREGA are taking place for quite a long time. The time has now come that we implement them...We cannot ignore the complaints that are coming regarding the irregularties and corruption in the scheme," Gandhi said addressing the MGNREGA Conference 2012.
Gandhi said that she was happy that the CAG will also look into the expenditure under the scheme. "Corruption in MGNREGA is a great injustice to the country and a crime in respect of the Father of the Nation after which it is named," she said.
"We have achieved successes in MGNREGA in last six years but there are still many challenges before us. The biggest
concern is to ensure timely wage payments to workers. For this, the banks and post offices will have to increase their reach. Our effort will be to ensure that the workers get their wages within 15 days," Singh said.
Gandhi said,"The delay in payment of their wages is illegal and unacceptable to us under any circumstances. We will have to ensure that MGNREGA workers get timely payment."
Flagging the challenges ahead in the implementation of the scheme, Gandhi also pointed out, "There is unfortunately
an apathy towards it in some states especially those states, which are considered poor."
In an indication that the UPA's flagship scheme could undergo crucial changes in near future, Gandhi wondered that while MGNREA is primarily a guarantee against poverty and employment in rural areas, whether it can be also used for
bringing comprehensive reform in public health or managing natural resources in a better way in rural areas.
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