NREGA panel: BJP accuses govt of indulging in “dirty game”

New Delhi, August 7, 2009 : BJP leader and former finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha at the Parliament house on the last day of Budget session, in New Delhi on August 7, 2009 . Photo : Rajeev Bhatt. NICAID:110433507

BJP on Wednesday accused Rural Development Minister C P Joshi of indulging in a “dirty game” by inducting only Congress MPs in the NREGA monitoring panel.

Appointments to the Central Employment Guarantee Council were made in the “most objectionable manner”. A national programme should have a national representation from all political parties, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told reporters here.

“It is a dirty game...NREGA is a national programme run on government funds, which is actually a public fund,” he said.

Mr. Sinha also claimed that in many areas, including Jharkhand, officials were “mired in worst kind of corruption” in the implementation of the NREGA scheme.

Meanwhile, Joshi yesterday defended inducting Congress MPs in the council, saying it was the government’s prerogative to appoint its member.