EGS provides ''job guarantee'' for BJP workers in MP: Cong

Bhopal, Mar 14 (UNI) The opposition Congress today alleged in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly that the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) was being misused to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's workers.

Participating in the debate on budgetary demands of about Rs 4,405 crore pertaining to Panchayatiraj and Rural Development departments held by Mr Rustam Singh, Congress member Rajnarayan Singh said, ''rampant corruption prevailed in EGS work. BJP workers were being given preference for listing in the Below Poverty Line category, sinking of wells under the Kapildhara Scheme and construction of ponds in farms under the Balram Yojana.'' Instead of manual work, heavy machinery was being used for work under centrally-sponsored schemes for which the state contributed only 10 per cent grant, he said, adding that BJP workers cornered the contract even at gram panchayat level. There was no accountability in EGS, Mr Singh added.

UNI SP AC 1703