'Strict measures under MGNREGS'

The department suspended 337 officers on charges of dereliction of duty while implementing the scheme and also seized about 12 lakh fake job cards.

At the inauguration of a one-day workshop on rural development on Tuesday he said 62 lakh job cards have been distributed in the state under the scheme. There have been many instances where fake cards are distributed and the government had registered 102 criminal cases against those involved in such acts, he said. The government had appointed ombudsmen to oversee the works taken up under the scheme in 15 districts. Besides, the government had imposed restrictions on number of works to be taken under MGNREGS in each gram panchayat so that completion of the projects would not be delayed.

He said the state has 5,628 gram panchayats and the government will appoint a panchayat development officer (PDO) for each gram panchayat. The government had already recruited 2,500 PDOs. Another 1,400 officers would be recruited soon. For the rest, the department would fill the posts by promoting the existing staff.