Politics of graft at the grass root : Milking MGNREGS funds
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 06, 2012 -

If devolution of power to the grass root level is the idea central to the Panchayati Raj, then in Manipur this has also come to mean devolution of corruption to the grass root level.

The arrest warrant issued by the Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Thoubal, against a Sub-Post Master, a Pradhan and members of a Gram Panchayat for swindling funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as well as the arrest warrant issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal West against a Pradhan, six members and a former Panchayat Secretary for misappropriating funds under the MGNREGS in a Gram Panchayat, should be enough indication of how deeply the rot runs.

In all probability this is just the tip of the iceberg and this line of thought is further buttressed by the huge spending witnessed in the run up to the Panchayat election scheduled on September 13.

The stakes must be high. The connect between huge expenditure during election and corruption is all too clear and the generous funds allocated under MGNREGS may just be one of the prime reasons for sparing no expenses during the Panchayat election. And nowhere are the people better placed than to snap this all too clear and unholy connection.

The question is whether the voters at the grass root level are ready to address this or not. For each rupee spent by the candidates during the election, no stone will be left unturned to recover the money spent, along with the interest, that would put even the most notorious money lender to shame.

A job guarantee scheme, launched as one of the flagship programmes of the Congress led UPA Government in 2005, in Manipur, the MGNREGS is this and something more.

The fund allotted to Manipur under this scheme is unclear but with the Government of India earmarking Rs 40,000 crore in the last fiscal for this scheme, the amount will not be peanuts.

It is not for nothing that Job Cards, as a term, has come to mean something more than just a certificate to identify a person entitled to work under the MGNREGS.

That Chief Minister O Ibobi could not resist taking a dig by terming Job Cards as Job Cars, says something significant.

Surely, corruption, like so many other facets of life has a spill over effect and what is being witnessed today at the Pradhan level may rightly be subscribed to what is happening at the very top.

What however is uncomfortable is the manner in which graft and corruption has seeped into the grass root level.

This is not about some grass root political leaders putting their finger in the pie, but says something about the universalisation of corruption. This is certainly not healthy for the people and the land.

Election to the Panchayat is just a few days away and this is perhaps the best opportunity for the people to search their conscience and accordingly take up steps to stem the rot.