Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh high court has directed the state govt to take a time-bound decision on the alleged misuse of MGNREGA funds in Himachal’s Bilaspur district.While disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the division bench comprising Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi directed the secretary, rural development, to decide the matter within three months.The PIL, filed by Madan Sharma, the general secretary of the Fourlane Visthapit and Prabhavit Samiti (FVPS) – a Bilaspur-based organisation that works for the people displaced by highway projects, alleged that MGNREGA funds were siphoned off for work that never existed on the ground.The PIL claimed that a practising advocate fraudulently got sanctioned Rs 1 lakh as a calamity fund in 2023 by falsely claiming a landslide on his land plot in Bakroa village of the Ghumarwin sub-division of Bilaspur district. As per the petition, Rs 1 lakh was sanctioned to the advocate even though no landslide occurred on his land.The PIL further claimed that the beneficiary was shown as a labourer in the official MGNREGA muster rolls even though he was a practising lawyer in Ludhiana. The PIL also claimed that revenue department officials and local panchayat staff were hand in glove with the beneficiary to get the funds sanctioned.In the PIL, the petitioner requested the high court to order the filing of a criminal case against the accused, recovery of the sanctioned funds, and imposition of exemplary cost of Rs 10 lakh on the advocate and other accused. The petitioner also requested an independent inquiry in the case.MSID:: 129775163 413 |
