Keonjhar: Days after the state Lokayukta suo motu registered a case (LY-603/2020) regarding alleged lapses in implementation of MGNREGS at Sholapata village in Shalania panchayat under Hatadihi block in Keonjhar district, the district administration suspended JE of the block Sudhakar Panda Tuesday.
Collector Ashish Thakre placed the JE under suspension over the alleged scam. This was stated through a notification Tuesday evening.
Orissa POST had first carried the news a few days ago. The Lokayukta has fixed July 20 as date for hearing of the case.
The Orissa POST report, published June 11, 2020, had stated that while the government had been laying a lot of stress on creating jobs for migrant workers and locals under MGNREGS during the lockdown, the scheme had allegedly been an instrument of massive irregularities in Hatadihi block. The report claimed lakhs of rupees had been embezzled through fake muster rolls while no work had been done in reality.
The scam was reported from Sholapata village of Shalania panchayat. As per official records, work of a farm pond was awarded in the name Adhikari Nayak, 70. The cost estimated was Rs 1.5 lakh. The project had not been approved by the Gram Sabha.
The work code was 2403009/IAF/10518773. It was stated that the work was executed between May 27 and June 9 with the help of 95 job cardholders. Accordingly, muster rolls were doctored. In the second week, the job card holders were paid Rs 1,449 for seven days. Serial number 3956 in the muster roll was assigned to a dead person.
PNN
