New Delhi: In a bizarre incident reported from Karnataka’s Bagalkote district, a man disguised himself as a woman to fraudulently claim work meant exclusively for women under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The incident has raised serious concerns about the implementation of the scheme especially at the grassroots level.
The fraud came to light in Siddanakolla village’s Ilkal taluk, where a man, who posed as “Mangalamma Ari”, a woman, wore a saree to appear as female worker in official photos, to claim work under block plantation projects in the area.
Duplication exposed
The man’s same photograph was reused across multiple Anganwadi construction sites in both Ilkal and Hunagunda taluks, using different names for the same person.
The blatant duplication, officials say, violates scheme norms which mandate the use of local labourers for each panchayat jurisdiction.
According to reports, as many as 23 Anganwadi building projects are ongoing in Hunagunda taluk, jointly funded by MGNREGA and the Woman and Child Welfare Department. Each project received arounds Rs 32 lakh, including Rs 8 lakh from MGNREGA.
Same photographs uploaded multiple times
The evidence suggests that the same group of workers was listed under different projects and the same photographs were uploaded multiple times.
When questioned, local panchayat officials played the blame game. Praveen Kanchi, PDO of Binjawadgi Gram Panchayat, claimed that the Panchayat Raj Department handled the construction and requested a list of labourers from them. Even officials from the taluk panchayat and engineers of the Panchayat Raj Department admitted to oversight due to work pressure but promised a thorough inquiry.
