Former Minister and Ex MLA Bandipora Usman Majid has raised serious concerns over alarming irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in Bandipora district. Expressing strong anger and dismay, Majid has demanded an immediate and impartial probe by the Jammu and Kashmir Vigilance Department, calling the revelations not only shocking but a direct betrayal of the trust reposed by the public and the central government.
“It is deeply astonishing that from labourers from outside Jammu and Kashmir are being engaged under MGNREGA in Bandipora, a scheme that was exclusively intended to benefit our unemployed local laborers,” Majid said. He further alleged that MGNREGA cards are being used to siphon money into the accounts of relatives and close aides of GRS. He revealed that lower-level staff, particularly the GRS, are at the heart of this nexus, employing their own relatives, creating fake work records, and diverting funds into their personal and family accounts. Some contractors are also hand-in-glove in this network, allowing large-scale misuse of public money with near-total impunity. “Machines are being used for work meant to be manual, while payments are manipulated and misappropriated. What we are witnessing is not just negligence, this is a well-orchestrated scam. The system has been hijacked and turned into a mafia,” he stated.
Majid also pointed out that instead of entire communities benefitting from developmental work, the scheme has been manipulated to serve individual interests, particularly those with political links. He acknowledged that some honest and young officers are making efforts to curb the menace, but their actions are being undermined by a nexus of corrupt elements. “The issue has been blatantly politicised to protect the wrongdoers. There is a dire need to conduct a detailed audit of assets and properties of those linked to the implementation of MGNREGA in the district,” he asserted.
Calling the situation a betrayal of public trust and central government policy, Majid has urged the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to personally intervene. “Let us not allow a poverty-alleviation scheme to become a playground for corruption. The very soul of MGNREGA is being crushed. It is imperative that we act now, weed out the corruption, and restore the original spirit of the scheme transparency, fairness, and local empowerment,” he concluded.
