New Delhi, Sep 17: Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday directed states and Union territories to conduct random inspections of works under the Viksit Bharat-G RAM G scheme and warned that fraud and irregularities would not be tolerated.
Addressing a national workshop on the scheme in Delhi, Chouhan said monitoring and inspection mechanisms needed to be strengthened from the beginning, noting that only two months had passed since its launch and the third month is underway.
"Remember, we will not allow any fraud in this scheme at any cost. I am clearly saying as the Minister that if there is any fraud, no one will be spared. Action will be taken against anyone who indulges in irregularities," he said.
The minister said officials should immediately act on any irregularity detected during inspections, while those implementing works according to prescribed standards and procedures should be appreciated.
Citing a hypothetical example, he said if a village pond is already full but workers were still being engaged there, the matter needed to be investigated.
Chouhan said technology had been incorporated into the scheme to plug loopholes and prevent fraud, including mandatory face-authentication-based attendance of workers.
He recalled instances under the erstwhile MGNREGA where fake muster rolls were allegedly generated, saying a worker could be shown as working in a village while money was withdrawn even when the worker was in Delhi.
"All the officials are sitting here, and I want to tell them and the Commissioners to ensure that no one is able to breach the system at any cost," he said.
The minister also stressed that the primary objective of the scheme is to provide employment and that workers should not remain without work.
He directed officials to ensure timely payment of wages and undertake only those works permitted under the rules after following the prescribed procedures.
He emphasised adherence to the 60:40 wage-material ratio, under which 60 per cent of funds are to be spent on wages and 40 per cent on material, and said priority should be given to works creating durable and useful assets in villages.
"Work does not mean merely digging soil at one place and dumping it at another," Chouhan said, stressing that the scheme should contribute to building developed villages and strengthening the rural economy.
He said the objective should be to create assets that remain useful to rural communities over the long term and contribute to making villages self-reliant and developed.
The workshop was attended by elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions, commissioners and senior officials from states and Union territories and other participants.
Earlier in the day, Chouhan planted saplings with sarpanches and departmental officials at the Pusa campus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 76th birthday and extended his greetings to him.
He said national service had remained the "core mantra" of Modi's life and wished the prime minister a long and healthy life.
