Bhubaneswar: A rights activist Monday sought the intervention of Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) into the allegations of massive irregularities in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Nayagarh district.
The activist, Pradipta Kumar Nayak, filed the petition based on a report published in leading Odia daily, Dharitri, which exposed the large-scale irregularities in implementation of MGNREGA in Nayagarh.
The activist alleged that machines are being used instead of humans for digging ponds by contractors and authorities at various places in Khandapada, Odagan and Nayagarh blocks of the district.
Hundreds of potential MGNREGA job card holders are sitting idle due to the lockdown while JCB machines, tractors and excavators are being used by the contractors for construction of village ponds and other developmental works implemented by the Panchayat Raj department. Nayak urged the commission to direct the Nayagarh district Collector and Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Panchayati Raj department to initiate an inquiry into the allegations and take proper action against erring officials and contractors.
