A symbolic picture has been placed in it.
Jagran correspondent, Darbhanga. A discrepancy of more than Rs 2.5 crore has come to light in the Vikas Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission Rural (VB Ji Ram Ji) in the district. This has been exposed by the department's Ombudsman Amarendra Kumar Thakur.
He has done this investigation on the complaint of Aniket Kumar Mishra, Panchayat Samiti member of Jale block. When Lokpal investigated the case of payment of amount to fake units on the basis of wrong GST challan without inviting tender in all the blocks, the allegation was found to be true.
A total irregularities of Rs 2 crore, 55 lakh, 58 thousand 453 have come to light in the financial year 2024-25. After the investigation, the Lokpal has filed the case related to this matter and submitted the report to the Deputy Development Commissioner. Also, its copy has been sent to the District Magistrate and Secretary of Rural Development Department, Patna.
In this, he has recommended to take action against the program officers and accountants of 18 blocks of the district. Besides, it has been recommended to blacklist all the vendors except Vidyarthi Stationary of Benipur. Let us tell you that in VB Ji Ram Ji (MNREGA), there is a rule to make payment to the supplier from the contingency fund in exchange for various works.
Investigation done with the help of District Audit Manager
Lokpal said that the help of District Audit Manager Pranay Kumar was taken in the investigation. The documents of all the blocks related to payment and expenditure were examined.
All the accountants were also interrogated. Investigation revealed that huge irregularities have been made in making payments to vendors on the MIS portal in all the blocks. Irregularities were found in records related to receipts and payments such as bills for payment and receipts. Mistakes were made in selecting the vendor for payment under contingency expenditure.
The vendors' agreement was not found to be as per the rules. Program officers, accountants and vendors of all the blocks have colluded and arbitrarily looted government funds. In such a situation, it was said that legal action would be taken against everyone.
On the other hand, if DRDA sources are to be believed, this entire matter is worth more than Rs 20 crores. If it is investigated at a high level, the names of many white collar people will also come to light.
Clarification has been sought from the District Audit Manager of the District Rural Development Agency and the Program Officer of all the blocks regarding this matter.
Aamna Johra, DPO, VB Ji Ram Ji, Darbhanga.