110 workers, 1 face: Identical photos in MNREGS records raise scam fears; Rs 1.72 lakh suspected to have siphoned off

BHOPAL: In a shocking incident of alleged digital manipulation from Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli district, 110 workers under MGNREGS, now rechristened as VB-G RAM G, apparently had different names but the same face on official records.

Investigations have revealed that photographs of a single individual, clicked from different angles, were uploaded against multiple labourers on the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) portal.The irregularity surfaced in Katdaha village under Deosar Janpad panchayat during work on an Amrit Sarovar pond project, where around Rs 1.72 lakh was suspected to be misappropriated between January 27 and February 2 through 11 muster rolls.

Acting on the findings, the district administration attached the village secretary and the sub-engineer concerned to the district panchayat headquarters, while issuing notices to others linked to the project.

Ruling out deliberate wrongdoing, Katdaha sarpanch Dilsharan Singh termed it a possible "technical or server-related error", claiming that wages were transferred to actual labourers' bank accounts despite similar photographs appearing on the portal.

He further alleged that certain local elements made complaints after their "undue demands" were not met.District panchayat CEO Jagdish Kumar Gome told TOI that, as per norms, uploading workers' photographs on NMMS was mandatory when more than 20 labourers were engaged. "It was apparently found that pictures of one person, taken from different angles, were uploaded against 110 labourers. A total of about Rs 1.72 lakh was misappropriated.

A probe was constituted, and the village secretary as well as the engineer concerned were attached to the district panchayat.

Whether it was a deliberate irregularity or some technical flaw will be clear once the investigations are over, and action will be decided on the basis of the findings. If it is found that wages were transferred to different persons who actually worked, it may be considered a technical error. If public money was misused, recovery and appropriate legal action will follow. The probe will make things clear," he said.