The Jammu and Kashmir’s MGNREGA online website where all the information regarding the center sponsored scheme is uploaded and managed has become inaccessible since the day government ordered an inquiry into the job card scam in Anantnag district following an expose by this newspaper.
Taking cognizance of a report published in Greater Kashmiron May 14, Commissioner/Secretary Rural Development Department (RDD) SheetalNanda constituted a high-level team headed by her Additional Secretary SudharshanKumar to conduct the inquiry.
Acting swiftly the team which also comprises Director RDD(Kashmir) Qazi Sarwar and Deputy Director Planning Muhammad Ashraf seizedrecords from the office of Block Development Office (BDO) Khovripora block andalso visited various houses to check the veracity of job cards issued in theirfavor.
A preliminary report was submitted which confirmed thebrazen irregularities in issuance of job cards.
“However, ironically the day the inquiry team wasconstituted, the J&Ks website for MGRREGA suddenly became inaccessible tothe internet users,” an official said.
This correspondent has also been trying to access thewebsite for past four days but every time it reads ‘Error 503: The service isunavailable’.
But once we click on the MGNRGA website of the other states– UP, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand etc, they can be easily accessed with all theinformation on display.
“To maintain transparency the entire process of MGNREGA ismanaged online. From job details to the number of working days sought by thelaborer to the actual number of working days provided to the total wages forthe number of working days done to total wages deposited; all are uploaded onthe website,” said an official.
He said the data on the site is first uploaded by districtmanagement information system and then it is consolidated by state managementinformation system.
“Making information unavailable to the public seems a ployto save the blue-eyed officials involved in the multi-crore job scam. It seemsthat an attempt is on to tamper with the information and make all the documentsthat expose the fraud look irrelevant,” an official said.
Commissioner/ Secretary, RDD Sheetal Nanda, however, assuredof looking into the issue.
“There might be some technical glitch, nothing more thanthat,” she said.
Talking about the preliminary inquiry report; Nanda said ithas pointed out certain irregularities in the issuance of job cards. “But theteam would be visiting the block in question again to ascertain more detailsand then only submit the detailed report,” she said.
As reported by thisnewspaper the wages drawn “fraudulently” are deposited directly into the bankaccounts of middlemen and contractors, chosen by the RDD officials in BlockDevelopment Office.
The documents have revealed that hundreds of fake andduplicate job cards for workers under MGNREGA have been issued by RDD, pointingto a large scale corruption in the central government scheme, implemented inJ&K in 2008.
The flagship program guarantees 100 days of employment topeople from rural areas, without a government job. The job card is provided toa family head holding a ration card.
However, even government employees, deceased people, minorshave been shown paid while a single person holds multiple job cards so do hisfamily members under different registration number