BHUBANESWAR: The Centre’s refusal to release funds under MGNREGS to six districts of the state where the CBI is probing into the rural job scam has taken political turn with BJD threatening to take the issue to the people.''We will take the issue to the streets to protest the central apathy to six districts,'' senior BJD leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, MP told media persons here on Friday.The rural wage employment scheme is to ensure food security to the poor people. The government will not tolerate any injustice to the poor people for no fault of theirs, he cautioned.The opposition Congress said that it will request the Centre to release funds for the six districts under CBI investigation.Pradesh Congress president Niranja Patnaik said his party will plead with the Centre to provide financial assistance to the six districts facing fund constraints. He, however, asked the State government to run the wage employment scheme from the spill over central assistance.Meanwhile, the Panchayati Raj department has written to the Rural Development Ministry saying it would not be possible for the State Government to pay unemployment allowance to the job seekers if they were denied works due to paucity of funds. As per the NREGA, job seekers are entitled to unemployment allowance if the Government failed to provide job on demand.During his recent visit to Delhi, Panchayatii Raj Secretary PK Jena took up the matter with the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). The MoRD is not inclined to release funds to the six districts of Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Balangir in view of the on going CBI probe into the alleged financial irregularities under MGNREGS. Besides, the issues is pending before the Supreme Court which is monitoring the CBI probe.The wage employment programme in the six districts is being managed from the spill over fund from last year. The government has Rs 140 crore for the six districts.
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