By IANS,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday asked the central government if it was inclined to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged lapses in the implementation of rural job guarantee scheme in Orissa.
The apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatantar Kumar said: “We make it clear we are giving four weeks’ time to decide. We make it clear if the centre doesn’t decide we will step in.”
The apex court bench said this while hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Centre for Environment and Food Security.
The petitioner alleged corruption in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Orissa.
The court’s query came in the wake of an earlier submission by the government that it was considering ordering a CBI probe into the irregularities and misappropriation of funds under the scheme.
The court asked senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the state, to discuss with the chief secretary of Orissa as to what steps could be taken for the proper implementation of the rural employment guarantee scheme.
The petitioner pointed to a report by the National Institute of Rural Development which said that only 22 percent of the reported wages actually reached the workers.
“In other words, 78 percent of the reported wage payments in the projects executed by departments were siphoned off,” said the affidavit filed by the petitioner.