Holes in NREGA no match to Mehta killing: DC<http://www.igovernment.in/site/holes-in-nrega-no-match-to-mehta-killing-dc/> June 13, 2008 *P Subhash / Jay Gupta* *Ranchi:* There was no link between the irregularities in execution of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and killing of Lalit Mehta—the social activist, a letter from Palamu District Collector to the Union Rural Development Minister said.
The clean chit given by the District Collector (DC) comes at a time when the finding of the Jharkhand CID which is probing the gruesome killing is still to come up. A promotee to the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Palamu district collector NP Singh, due to retire on June 30 this month, wants to dirt off all accusations pointing at him by this letter. The Palamu Superintendent of Police, Deepak Verma, also a promotee Indian Police Service officer, has joined the duet with Singh. With Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh and CPI national General Secretary D Raja also pushing for a CBI probe into the matter, the Palamu district administration shot off the letter to the Union Rural Development Minister. The letter accuses economist Jean Dreze, who is leading the NREGA social audit team, of diverting the issue for building pressure on the district administration. In the letter, the two officials not only blamed Dreze and his social audit team for humiliating the officials involved in execution of NREGA at the just concluded public hearing, but also accused him of linking Mehta's murder with the scheme. Citing the police investigation into the murder case, the officials in the letter ruled out any NREGA connection saying that Mehta had just initiated the process of acquiring documents about the programme's execution. "There is remote possibility that Mehta might have been targeted by the people associated with NREGA. Mehta had recently directed the block officials to cooperate with him. Till then, Mehta had never talked about any document pertaining to irregularities in the scheme," the DC said. It may be noted that the state government was treating Mehta's murder as a simple road robbery until a condolence message from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi reached the victim's family. The message was read out by a member of the social audit team during the public hearing. It compelled the state Home Department transfer the case to CID, which too is still clueless about the circumstances that led to Mehta's murder. Trouble for the district and police administration burgeoned further when Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh wrote a letter to Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda suggesting a CBI enquiry into the matter. Koda, on the other hand sought to offer some time to the CID to unravel the murder mystery before handing it over to the CBI. "I would recommend CBI probe only if the CID investigation were found unsatisfactory," he said. In the letter, the officials claimed that police investigation so far in the case revealed that Vikas Sahyog Kendra, of which Mehta was the secretary, had been dealing in cash meant for execution of various developmental schemes. It used to be a gathering point for many contractors also. It is quite obvious that some kind of dispute over share of money might have led to killing of Mehta, the letter mentioned. To prove their point that Mehta's case was nowhere linked with NREGA; the officials said that he had married a tribal Christian girl, which was not accepted by the families of either the boy or the girl. Both the families did not want to see each other. http://www.igovernment.in/site/holes-in-nrega-no-match-to-mehta-killing-dc/ -- Gladson Dungdung Human Rights Activist Khorha Toli, Mission Colonly, Kokar, Ranchi - 834001 Cell: 09331432881 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.indigenousindia.blogspot.com
