Names of a host of celebrities from the world of cricket and Bollywood, including Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, have been found in the list of beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Assurance scheme in Goa.
Other illustrious names include Aamir Khan, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvaraj Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, the information obtained from the State government’s Rural Development Agency under the Right to Information by the NGO, Goa Parivartan Manch (GPM), reveals.
The NGO alleged on Saturday that money paid for implementing the UPA’s flagship scheme was being siphoned off by making payments to bogus beneficiaries.
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GPM convener Yatish Naik said wages of Rs. 100 per day for 150 days were made in the name of the aforesaid celebrities and even their spouses and children.
The list is from Chimbel area, a hub of labour market, which has more than a thousand MNREGA beneficiaries.
The NGO has petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, requesting him to ask authorities concerned to investigate the scam.
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GPM leaders also met Goa Governor B.V. Wanchoo and sought his intervention.
The list includes former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting and family memberscricketer Yuvaraj Singh with family member ‘Josl’, Rahul Dravid with family members ‘Resma and Arjun’, Sachin’s wife and two children, and the entire family of Amitabh Bachchan, including his mother Teji.