Taking note of rising cases of financial irregularities in several works done under its flagship rural employment scheme MNREGA, the Centre has sent more than 230 special investigation teams to various states in the past five years to probe them.

Out of the total of 236, 92 teams of National level Monitors (NLMs) were sent to Uttar Pradesh followed by 55 to Madhya Pradesh and 21 to Bihar between 2006 and March 2011, the Ministry of Rural Development, which acts as a nodal agency in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme, said.

According to the information received in response to an RTI query filed by PTI, 17 teams were sent to Gujarat, seven to Orissa and five each to Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to investigate and report cases of alleged discrepancies in various parts of the states. The reports were either not submitted or awaiting action in all the cases, it said.

Besides, 10 other cases of gross irregularities were handed over to the CBI between 2010-11 to further investigate graft cases in over 100 villages of Orissa, UP, MP, Jharkhand and Rajasthan among others.

The MoRD had also recommended CBI probe in the murder of two RTI activists - Niyamat Ansari of Latehar district and Subal Mahto of Jharkhand this year.

“The state of Jharkhand has been requested to issue notification under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 consenting for extension of jurisdiction of CBI to areas in the state for investigation of offences relating to MNREGA,” the Ministry said in reply to the RTI.

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