Mon, May 17 (MExN): While a departmental Enquiry Committee has been constituted to look into the alleged misuse of fund under MGNREGA at Longzang village under Phomching Block in Mon district, the complainants (Public of Longzang Village) have issued another press release on Tuesday.
The matter pertains to allegations levelled against Village Council Chairman (VCC) and VDB Secretary of Longzang village, that they had misappropriated funds amounting to Rs 4.79 crore.
On Tuesday, the complainants, chairman Kaiwang Konyak and secretary Tahmao Konyak requested the committee to come well prepared to conduct a proper inquest as there are several work orders received through their RTI that need to be looked into, along with spot verifications. It also requested the BDO Phomching “to produce all clearance copy, completion certificate, Geotag photo copy from 2010 to 2022 for transparency.”
Meanwhile, the release claimed that the public of Longzang Village and the Deputy Commissioner, Mon and BDO Phomching held a meeting on May 13, at DC chamber, wherein the DC allegedly stated that he would file a case against the press statement of Longzang public. It also claimed that it had, since 2020, appealed the Mon DC repeatedly about the misuse of fund, but “grievances of the public was ignored.”
‘The public of Longzang Village would also state that the expenditure list read out by Ngame, VDB Secretary at DC Chamber on May 13, 2022 is rejected by the public and accordingly a written letter was submitted to DC Mon and BDO Phomching requesting to deposit the amount of Rs 31,94,520 in the account of the beneficiaries within 15 days, failing which the public will take further appropriate step ahead,’ the release stated.
In connection with the May 13 meeting, Mon DC Thavaseelan K told The Morung Express that it was related to a press release issued by the complainants’ on May 12 claiming that “the public approached the Deputy Commissioner, Mon and the Block Development Officer (BDO), Phomching on May 3 expressing grievances in written not to release the MGNREGA fund.”
The DC clarified that they had not met him in person nor submit any letter on May 3 asking him to withhold the fund. It was only after the matter was published in the media that he was made aware of a letter addressed to the BDO Phomching. Copies of the letter which were made available to this newspaper confirmed that the letters were addressed to the BDO with no copies marked to the DC.
The DC said he had requested them to correct their statement while pointing out that such claims are tantamount to defamation and unfair to him and the District Administration.
Explaining the chronology of events, the DC said the issue dates back to 2010, before he took charge as Mon DC. However ‘Once we received the complaint in 2020, all funds were stopped,’ he said, adding that during his tenure, only 13% of fund release happened. The complainants were also requested to file FIRs against the VCC and VDB Secretary, but that never materialised, he added.
The DC also provided documentation indicating that the District Administration had intervened in August 2021, to ensure equal representation for the complainants in the newly elected Village Council, with the induction of 7 members each from both parties. Proofs of messages appreciating the administration’s intervention were also provided to this newspaper along with other documents.
Notably, as per the documents, Mon DC had in February 2021 directed all the HoDs to immediately stop the release of any fund to Longzang village, except for PDS and any scheme where funds are directly credited to the beneficiaries’ account. But in October the same year, the DC received a letter from BDO Phomching requesting the release of funds to Longzang as it has “adversely affected the working pattern of the block.”
In another letter dated January 24, 2022, Mon DC asked Kaiwang and Tahmao to submit documentary proof to support the allegation of fund misuse against the re-elected VCC. The reply from the duo stated that the general public was totally against the re-election while citing misuse of funds but there was no mention of Rs 4.79 crore.
With regard to the release of Rs 31,94,520 to VDB Longzang for which the complainants have requested the DC and BDO to deposit the amount within 15 days, the documents show that the amount was released after signing of an ‘Agreement/Declaration’ on May 4 which stated that the village would “unite and work together for progress and development.” Subsequently, on May 5 another ‘Agreement’ was made with 5 signatories stating that they had received the amount from BDO Phomching “with the assurance that the amount will be utilised for development activities.”
“In case the said amount received from BDO Phomching if found to be misused or fail to utilise properly, then the authority/BDO Phomching shall have the right to withhold the remaining fund of VDB Longzang,” the agreement read.
It was informed that the release fund is about 25-30% of the total amount for future work and not related with any work done in the past. It said the remaining fund would not be released till work is done and inspection completed.
