Sardarpur (Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh): The members of village panchayat secretary association from the district have come to rescue of sarpanchs, gram panchayat secretaries and employment assistants against whom FIR has been registered. The latter have been accused of committing irregularities in the works sanctioned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.
Members of gram panchayat, block secretaries and joint secretaries' associations submitted a memorandum to sub divisional magistrate Bondersingh Kalesh on Tuesday and said administration should stop pressuring village panchayat secretaries for allotting work under MGNREGA. At present, there is a lot of pressure on village panchayat to provide work under MGNREGA. They also said investigation should be launched against rural engineering department, which is the real culprit.
In the memorandum, the block secretary and joint secretary association accused rural engineering department for irregularities claiming that in the village panchayats of Sardarpur janpad, payment was made by creating a false job card on the work done by the rural engineering department. It was done by Rural Engineering Services Department from the janpad panchayat and rural engineering department’s login.
So far, no action has been taken against those who did this. However, action was taken against gram panchayat secretaries and employment assistant for irregularities.
After submitting memorandum, secretaries and joint secretaries from 103 village panchayats of Sardarpur tehsil decided to abstain from work from March 16-20 as a mark of protest against suspension and FIRs registered against five village panchayat secretaries in the matter.
On Monday, four sarpanchs, five employment assistants and five suspended village panchayat secretaries from Sardarpur tehsil were booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), Section 13 (1) (D) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1918, for committing irregularities under MGNREGA.
A 14-page FIR has been registered at Sardarpur police station against Bichhiya gram panchayat employment assistant Khemraj Bamnia, secretary Charan Singh Vasuniya and sarpanch Kailash Bhuria, Bimrod gram panchayat employment assistant Harisingh, secretary Rupsingh Bhabar and sarpanch Santubai, Bhangarh gram panchayat secretary and employment assistant Rakesh Solanki and sarpanch Vishnubai Meda, Shyampura Thakur gram panchayat employment assistant and secretary Magan Singh, sarpanch Krushna Bherulal.
An FIR against Khakedi gram panchayat employment assistant Mukesh Bhabar, secretary Sunil Garuda has been registered in Amjhera police station. The post of sarpanch in Khakedi village panchayat is vacant due to sarpanch’s death.
Block secretary association president Mukesh Kumawat and block joint secretary association president Ajaypal Singh Rathore said work is provided to villagers on basis of demand through village panchayat under MGNREGA scheme.
Meanwhile, all the sarpanchs, gram panchayat secretaries and employment assistants against whom FIR has been registered have gone underground. Mobile phones of all of them are switched off.
