Revealed—Sanction letters for over Rs 800 crores in 2017; almost 2000 crore in 5 yrs.
Call it a bonanza for the deserving rural folks of Nagaland or perhaps a shot in the arm for the cash-strapped government coffers, the State of Nagaland has seen a huge surge in funding for the Government of India’s flagship rural development programme—MGNREGA.
As per the sanction letters in the possession of The Naga Republic, a total of Rs 819 crores has been disbursed to the State government for the current financial year (2017-18).Some would presume it to be the generosity of the BJP led Government at the Centre as this amount is the highest in the northeast so far, even surpassing Assam which has received around Rs 696 crores.
Meghalaya is the next highest recipient with around Rs. 503 crores followed by Tripura at Rs 287 crores, Arunachal Pradesh at Rs 168 crores and Mizoram at Rs 167 crores. Manipur with Rs 79 crores and Sikkim at Rs 75 crores have received the least amount so far for this current financial year.
Of interest to note is that the BJP ruled States of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh have received much less as compared to Nagaland. Both Assam and Manipur recently voted in the BJP to power while in Arunachal Pradesh the party was able to manoeuvre its way into power through some skilful political moves.
Whether it is just a coincidence or some political objective behind the fund distribution, the three states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura, which have received the highest allocation (with the exception of Assam) are also the ones going for elections in early 2018. It is a known fact that the ruling BJP at the Centre is going all out to return BJP governments in these states.
Coming to the allocation for Nagaland, official figures (see box) show that there is quite a jump in funding from previous years. During the last financial year (2016-17), Nagaland received around Rs 501 crores. In 2014-15 it was around Rs 113 crores. The last five years has seen around Rs 1992 crores.
Official figures of MGNREGA funding for Nagaland
| Financial Year | Amount Received
(in lakhs) |
|
| 2013-14 | Rs. 29214.8 | |
| 2014-15 | Rs. 11305.27 | |
| 2015-16 | Rs. 26665.95 | |
| 2016-17 | Rs. 50152.8 | |
| 2017-18 | Rs. 81941.95 | |
| Total in last
5 financial years |
Rs. 199,280.77 |
This huge amount of funding for Nagaland is welcome but only if it is used honestly for its stated objective—to improve livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the State and not for political funding or personal enrichment.
According to details available with The Naga Republic, the Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development has clearly instructed that the above grants will be used towards plan expenditure and shall be utilized for approved items of works subject to the conditions laid down in the MGNREGA Guidelines. No deviation from the provisions of the guidelines is permissible, the sanction letter signed by Dr. Suparna S. Pachouri, Director MGNREGA states.
It may be mentioned that the law provides, as a matter of right, at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to one adult person in every rural household registered for employment.
However, not everything is right with the implementation of the MGNREGA programme in Nagaland. It’s an open secret that since its launch under the Congress-led UPA regime, the huge amount of funds flowing under this flagship programme has been a major source of corruption.
Anti-corruption watchdog groups like Against Corruption and Unabated Corruption (ACAUT) and the Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF), have been publicly questioning the irregularities in the implementation of the MGNREGA scheme in the State. Further, public perception is that huge misappropriation of funds under MGNREGA has been taking place.
Reports have also been doing the rounds of how blank cheques have been issued for village functionaries to sign on and deductions made accordingly. Public demand for sharing information about the programme, including allocation of funds has not been met, leading to more suspicion and cynicism against the government.
Meanwhile K. Therie, President of the Congress, the lone opposition party in Nagaland, has been critical of the way funds have been misused. Last year the Congress in Nagaland had led a protest alleging that 50 per cent of the funds were kept as ‘convergence fund’ to be utilised by the MLAs as discretionary fund for developmental activities.
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) had also submitted a memorandum to Governor P.B. Acharya last year and demanded that an impartial Inquiry Commission headed by a retired High Court Judge be constituted to investigate and take necessary and appropriate action to implement the Act effectively.
For copies of sanction letters click on the links below:
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