BJP says Tripura government failed to follow MNREGA rules

Agartala, May 22 (IANS) The BJP on Monday said that Left-ruled Tripura failed to follow the stipulated rules for MGNREGA, including geo-tagging of assets, which led the state to get less central funding for the scheme, refuting the CPI-M's claims of victimisation.

"The Tripura government did only 6 per cent of geo-tagging of assets and uploaded false MIS (Management Information System) reports of MGNREGA. That's why the state got less fund in MGNREGA in the current financial year," state BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb told reporters.

Refuting the Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) leaders' allegation of victimisation of the Left Front government by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government, Deb said the CPI-M was misleading the people with an eye on next year's assembly polls.

Deb said the Tripura government's Principal Secretary G.S.G. Aayengar's circulars had proved the deficiencies in execution of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the northeastern state.

Left-ruled Tripura, which until fiscal 2015-16 had occupied the top spot for seven consecutive years, dropped to second position with 79.88 person days per household in the last fiscal.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has recently claimed that the BJP-led central government is trying to scuttle MGNREGA even though his party (CPI-M) has been demanding 200 days of work in a year under the scheme.

"The present central government is gradually curtailing the allocation of funds under the MGNREGA to close the rural job scheme," Sarkar said.

Other Left leaders, including the CPI-M general secretary, echoed Sarkar citing lower allocation of funds to Tripura in MGNREGA.

"In the last financial year, Tripura has provided around 80 man-days of rural jobs per household under the MGNREGA, but in the current financial year (2017-18), as per the indication of central allocation, the state would be able to provide only 38 to 42 man-days of jobs per household under the scheme," he added.

BJP leader Deb said that CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury had said in Agartala on Sunday that BJP had promised to generate two crore new jobs every year. "This is absolutely false, BJP never promised such a thing."

He said the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narandra Modi has created Mudra Bank and from this bank loans were given to 3.48 crore people under various self-employment schemes.

"In Tripura Rs 1,700 crore has been given for 68,146 people from this Mudra Bank. CPI-M cadres might have eaten this fund," the BJP leader alleged.

Deb said that due to the "autocratic attitude of the leaders and ministers of the Left Front government" the Supreme Court and the Tripura High Court terminated the jobs of 10,323 government teachers as the court found irregularities in selection of candidates for these posts.

BJP leaders claim the party has emerged as the principal challenger to the Left and that's why the CPI-M has become afraid of its outcome in the next assembly polls.