The Congress on Thursday targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the reported ‘attendance fraud’ within the VB-G RAM G scheme (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) as Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Aradhana Mishra alleged that false attendance was recorded in nine districts, including Ayodhya, even on days when the state experienced continuous rain and flood in many parts.
“Not just attendance was forged, even pictures were morphed and duplicate photos were sent to cheat the poor of their rights. This government changed the name of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) to VB-G RAM G. However, their intent remained the same – to deprive the poor of their right to food which MGNREGA promised to the poor in villages along with village development,” Mishra claimed while addressing a press conference with the party’s UP media cell head Kunwar Singh Nishad, spokesperson Sachin Rawat and vice-chairperson Priyanka Gupta.
“Despite the government of India writing a letter to states about the morphed photographs and forged data, the states have not responded to the Union government,” the UP Congress chief further claimed.
“In Ayodhya, attendance was marked online for 1,224 labourers between September 25 and 27 across 11 blocks, with the corresponding wages estimated at approximately ₹3.37 lakh. In Sambhal, attendance of 5,587 workers and an alleged fraud of ₹16 lakh and in Hardoi, attendance of 894 labourers across 13 gram panchayats was marked fraudulently,” she alleged.
{{/usCountry}}“In Ayodhya, attendance was marked online for 1,224 labourers between September 25 and 27 across 11 blocks, with the corresponding wages estimated at approximately ₹3.37 lakh. In Sambhal, attendance of 5,587 workers and an alleged fraud of ₹16 lakh and in Hardoi, attendance of 894 labourers across 13 gram panchayats was marked fraudulently,” she alleged.
{{/usCountry}}“Likewise, in Ghazipur, attendance of thousands of labourers during rainfall, in Maharajganj, an allegation of 906 workers being marked present despite no work being done, in Chandauli, Ghaziabad, and Bahraich allegations of recording fake attendance using a ‘clone’ app; and in Jalaun allegations of uploading identical photographs for different work sites were reported,” Mishra alleged.
The Union ministry of rural development cited following discrepancies, including uploading unrelated photographs, uploading pre-existing photographs instead of live, real-time images, discrepancies between the actual number of workers and those recorded, and discrepancies between the actual and recorded number of male and female workers, she claimed. The state Congress chief demanded an impartial investigation into the allegations of attendance fraud