New Delhi, Feb 27: From the next fiscal, the Centre will not give funds for employment guarantee scheme MGNREGS to states that do not appoint ombudspersons in 80 per cent of their districts where the scheme has been applied, a top government official said on Sunday.
As per details available with the Union Rural Development Ministry, states such as BJP-ruled Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa, and TRS-ruled Telangana, and union territories such as Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli do not a single ombudsperson for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MDNREGS).
Similarly, there are states that have appointed ombudspersons in very few districts such as Congress-ruled Rajasthan, where only four out of the 33 districts under the scheme have ombudspersons. In TMC-ruled West Bengal, ombudspersons have been appointed in four out of 23 districts under the scheme.
The situation is similar in Haryana and Punjab. Both have 22 districts each under the scheme, but only four such districts in Haryana and seven in Punjab have ombudspersons, as per data available with the ministry.
Launching the Ombudsperson app for MGNREGS on Thursday, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh had expressed concerns over non-appointment of ombudspersons in various districts. (PTI)
