Rahul seeks speedy probe in rural jobs irregularities

SULTANPUR - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Friday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to complete the probe into the irregularities and anomalies reported in various projects of the rural job scheme by April 17 to avoid intervention by the central government, officials said.

Gandhi’s instructions on the probe into the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) lapses came during the meeting in which he reviewed the central government funded developmental projects of his parliamentary constituency Amethi, a part of Sultanpur district.

“In the meeting, Rahulji categorically told the state government officials, legislators and other public representatives to complete the probe, particularly the one related to the allotment of nearly Rs.80 lakh to an NGO,” Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh told reporters in Sultanpur, some 150 km from Lucknow.

“A resolution was also passed in the meeting that the central government may intervene into the issue if the state government fails to complete the probe till April 17,” he added.

During the meeting, Gandhi called upon the public representatives to rise above the party lines for addressing the public issues.

“Rahulji asked the public representatives, including legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), not to treat the scheme (MNERGA) as a project of a single party and, therefore, should extend all possible contribution for the welfare scheme to help the poor and needy,” Singh later told IANS on telephone from Sultanpur.

According to Congress activists, Gandhi might go for surprise inspections in villages to know the state of development projects. Gandhi, who arrived Friday on a two-day tour to Amethi will hold interactive sessions with women self-help groups (SHG) and meet party workers Saturday.