Under criticism from the Centre for not implementing welfare schemes in rural areas, the Left Front government has promptly blamed its own officials for blocking funds at various levels.
?People should know that the government has released funds, but at the block or sub-division level these funds are lying. I have no idea why the officials have not released the fund to the beneficiaries,? said Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Anisur Rahaman in Kolkata on Friday. ?I have asked them to immediately act on it,? the minister added.
Citing the latest report of the rural development department, Rahaman said only 39 percent of the total fund allotted have been spent on welfare schemes, as the rest are lying at the Block offices.
According to the minister, ?once people will come to know that the funds are with the block officials, they will force them to allot the money to the beneficiaries
Sources in the department said that till July, the total fund available for National Social Assistance Programme was Rs 279.73 crore, of which only Rs 109.94 crore have been disbursed. The department?s report states that North Dinajpur district fares poorly in implementation of the scheme as only 3.99 per cent of the allotted Rs 10.33 crore has been utilised.