New Delhi:
There is all-out war between the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government over the latter's alleged "inaction on corruption." Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to the Mayawati government slamming it for the misuse of the Congress' pet pro-poor National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme in the state and has demanded to know why there should not be a CBI inquiry in the matter.
Mr Ramesh has said in his letter that monitoring committees both at the national and state level have found that the Mayawati government has not taken action in 22 to 30 corruption cases related to NREGA. The senior minister has alleged that there has been brazen violation of rules and a deliberate embezzlement of funds.
UP, he said in the letter, has a budget of Rs 5,000 crores, so why should there not be a CBI inquiry?
Mr Ramesh has sternly told the UP government that in view of the inaction, the Centre has the option of withholding funds, but that will only affect the poor people dependent on the NREGA scheme.