Chandigarh: A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking judicial intervention over alleged irregularities in the grants under Central rural development schemes including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Punjab has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Petitioner Alleges Lack of Transparency
The petitioner, Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Mukerian town of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, alleged that there is no transparency or supervision of the funds management of the panchayats in Punjab. Referring to his application filed under RTI Act in October last year seeking the records relating to the usage of funds of Musahibpur village, he alleged that he did not get any response to his queries asked in the application nor through its appeals under the RTI Act for the same so far.
However, the panchayat records show various irregularities in bills and works, he alleged and added that he had also filed a complaint with the vigilance bureau, Punjab, but to no avail.
Petitioner Seeks Court Directions
Seeking time-bound inquiries into the grants’ utilisation, the petitioner also sought directions for immediate RTI compliance and issuance of guidelines mandating regular audits in the rural funds.
