DELHI

THE HINDU

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012

FROM THE STATES

Looting of MGNREGS funds amounts to crime against the poor: Sonia

Congress chief, Prime Minister call for timely payment of wages
K. Balchand
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday brought up the alleged embezzlement of funds meant for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme an issue that has put the Mayawati government in the dock at a function commemorating the completion of six years of the job entitlement scheme. Holding the State governments responsible for the shortcomings, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed them to ensure timely payment of wages to the MGNREGS workers. Without naming the Bahujan Samaj Party government in U.P., against which the Congress-led UPA government has been pressing for a CBI enquiry, Ms. Gandhi said loot of MGNREGS money amounted to a crime against the poor. She said the plunder was tantamount to doing injustice to the Father of the Nation, as the scheme was named after him. Her warning that such irregularities should not be ignored was a clear message

IT searches continue on Ponty Chadhas premises

Devesh K. Pandey
NEW DELHI: The searches by In-

Flights stranded as oil rm refuses to refuel

Staff Reporter
MUMBAI: The schedule of at

TAKING STOCK: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with UPA president Sonia Gandhi during the MGNREGS Sammelan in New Delhi on Thursday.
PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

for the government to pursue the enquiry process. She also hailed the social audit process as an effective instrument to expose irregularities. Ms. Gandhi expressed happiness that the CAG had also been roped in to enquire into utilisation of the rural job scheme funds, to pinpoint the irregularities, and place accountability. She said, apart from the

social audits, reports of State Quality Monitors showed how the funds had been embezzled in U.P., following which Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh wrote to Ms. Mayawati demanding a CBI enquiry, which she declined. When a PIL was led before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the Centre in its response

afdavit supported the demand for a CBI enquiry. Ms. Gandhi also pulled up the economically backward States for their failure to implement the scheme. She also deprecated the delay in the payment of wages. Calling the delay in payment of wages as a cause for concern, Dr. Singh said owing to inadequate staff, it was not possible to carry out the verication process and hand out wages within the stipulated 15-day period. He asked the States to take up the issue on a priority basis. Pointing to the provision of payment of unemployment allowance to those not provided work within 15 days of placement of demand for a job, the Prime Minister expected the States to abide by the rule. Hailing the project, Dr. Singh said its convergence with the Integrated Action Plan in Naxalite-affected districts had raised the aspirations of the people. Dr. Singh called for its proper implementation to speed up the development process, which would eliminate the causes that forced people to resort to the path of violence.

come Tax sleuths on the premises of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his associates in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh continued for the second day on Thursday. The departments intelligence and criminal investigation unit has seized documents and computer data storage devices for analysis. Financial transactions of some rms and persons associated with Mr. Chadha are also being scrutinised. While IT ofcials remained tight-lipped on any seizure of cash or valuables, a statement issued by Wave Infratech, on behalf of Mr. Chadha, said: Widespread rumours and wrong information have been circulated with a view to maligning the reputation and tarnishing the image of the group with a mala de intention. The IT ofcials who visited Centrestage Mall in neighbouring Noida on Wednesday did not nd any cash in the safe located in the basement, the statement said rebutting reports in a section of the media that Rs.100 crore or above was seized from there. Claiming that the Chadha Group was extending full cooperation to the IT ofcials, C.J. Singh of Wave Infratech said none of the

least six Air India ights ying from Mumbai took a hit on Thursday after an oil company refused to refuel the planes owing to pending dues, Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL) sources told The Hindu. One of the ights was international ight AI-144 ying from Newark in the United States of America to Ahmedabad via Mumbai. The ight which was to depart from Mumbai at 7 p.m. was delayed by at least four hours. All the other affected ights were domestic ights and were delayed by an hour or two, MIAL said. According to sources, Air India had not paid its dues for fuel to the oil companies, especially to Indian Oil, due to which the company on An Income Tax ofcial examines a bag found in a safe, where wads of currency were kept, in the ofce Thursday decided to stop refuelling of all Air India ights of liquor baron Ponty Chadha at Jalaun, U.P. on across the country. Thursday. PHOTO: PTI Both the companies reached amicable solution by companies/concerns had disclosed to the government, night and the refuelling activities began later, the any afliation or association he said. with any political person or On Wednesday, the Delhi- sources said. party. All income of the based intelligence unit conChadha Group was properly ducted searches at nearly 20 See also back page accounted for and there was places in Delhi and Uttar no income that remained un- Pradesh.

SIT planning closure report on Modi, says Shreekumar

Shreekumar, issued a citizens appeal sent to SIT AHMEDABAD: At least two Guj- chairman R.K. Raghavan by arat cadre IPS ofcers have suspended IPS ofcer Sanjiv decried the reported move by Bhatt, with his personal enthe Supreme Court-appointed dorsement of its contents Special Investigation Team against the SITs reported (SIT) to le a closure report on move. the complaints by Zakia Jafri, Describing as disappointwife of the slain former Con- ingly unethical and clever gress member of Parliament, strategy, the SITs reported Ehsan Jafri, against Chief move to le C summary to Minister Narendra Modi and the case in the magisterial 62 others. court, which, under the GujThe former Additional Di- arat Police Manual, meant the rector-General of Police, R.B. complaint to be false, Mr. Manas Dasgupta Shreekumar said it would permanently close any prospect of re-investigation or re-evaluation of the evidences collected in connection with the case and alleged that right from the beginning Mr. Raghavan and his team were working to protect the Chief Minister and other accused in the case. Stating that the move was contrived at the advice of a former legal adviser to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Shreekumar wondered why the SIT considered its chosen legal adviser superior to the Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae in the case, Raju Ramachandran, who had reportedly recommended action against Mr. Modi and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Quoting from his afdavits led before the G.T. NanavatiAkshay Mehta Judicial Inquiry Commission probing the Godhra train carnage and the post-Godhra communal riots in the State copies of which were also submitted to the SIT Mr. Shreekumar said he had in the past received a lot of information about the SIT remaining un-empathetic and insincere to the interests of the riot victims in order to give clean chit to Mr. Modi and others. This trend of the SIT was conspicuous from February 2009, a few months after the SIT was constituted in April 2008, he alleged. Mr. Shreekumar said many frustrated riot victims in the State perceived the SIT as the B-Team of the Gujarat Police, religiously travelling on the roadmap provided by the State administration. The IPS ofcer recalled a statement he made in May 2008, soon after his rst meeting with Mr. Raghavan and some other SIT members, and that despite his expressing apprehension that the SIT was avoiding collection of incriminating documents against Mr. Modi and others, he was not called as witness in the case.

Bail for AMRI director

Shiv Sahay Singh
KOLKATA: A city court on

Thursday granted interim bail to 92-year-old Mani Chettri, an eminent doctor and director of AMRI Hospitals, Dhakuria, who was arrested on January 27 in connection with a massive re in the hospital premises resulting in the death of several persons on December 9 last year. Delivering the order, Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Alipore court granted interim

bail to Dr. Chettri till February 15. The defence counsel argued that on grounds of his frail health Dr. Chettri should be granted bail. Counsel representing him also claimed that he was not involved in day-to-day affairs of the hospital. Meanwhile, another doctor, Pronab Dasgupta, who was arrested along with Dr. Chettri and two employees -- Pritha Banerjee and Sajid Hossain -- of the hospital was remanded in police custody till February 6.

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