Nagaland Congress demands action against alleged MGNREGA fund deduction

• DIMAPUR — The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has called for immediate and decisive action from the government following allegations of illegal deductions from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds by the state's Rural Development Department.
• 
  
• In a press release issued on Sunday, the party stated that recent public revelations, particularly “the damning exposé” done by the Kacharigaon (Phevima) Village Council on June 7, have once again highlighted a “disturbing, long-standing pattern in the state, where significant portions of MGNREGA funds, which are intended for the welfare of the rural populace, are allegedly being extorted by officials from the RD Department.”

Related: Kacharigaon (Phevima) council refuses to pay 30% wage cut demand by RD department

• “This insidious practice of extortion, reportedly demanded as mandatory ‘commissions’ or ‘cuts’, has become an entrenched part of the department throughout Nagaland. It is but a natural extension of the deep-rooted culture of corruption perpetuated by the government in the state,” it stated.
• 
  
• While condemning the RD Department for “presiding over this deplorable abuse of power”, it called upon the minister for RD and the state government to “take immediate and decisive action to put an end to this rampant corruption and ensure that those involved are thoroughly identified and penalised in accordance with the law of the land.”