Chalavadi targets govt.’s ad. campaign featuring ‘Sangappa’

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, on Friday took a swipe at the State government’s public campaign opposing the revised MGNREGA framework, questioning whether similar publicity had been given to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the scheme.

Referring to advertisements opposing the Union Government’s VB-G RAM G Act featuring caricatures of Mahatma Gandhi having a conversation with a man named “Sangappa”, who is depicted wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers, he asked whether the government had also informed the public about “what Nungappa (taking a dig at alleged corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA) has done.” The comment drew attention during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.

Turning to the Governor’s address, he said it contained no new initiatives and merely reiterated the already approved programmes. He mocked the ruling party for repeatedly referring to them as achievements of “my government”, while remaining silent on issues such as the Valmiki corporation scam, alleged irregularities in MUDA site allotments, farmers’ suicides, the confusion over internal reservation, and the death of 11 people in the stampede near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Not a scam

Mr. Narayanaswamy alleged that under MGNREGA, irregularities had become routine, and accused the government of allowing large-scale misuse of funds in the names of beneficiaries in districts such as Yadgir, Kalaburagi and Vijayapura, apart from several other parts of the country.

Defending the Centre’s intervention, he said the scheme had been restructured to prevent misuse and to improve rural livelihoods. He pointed out that the number of guaranteed workdays had been increased from 100 to 125, wages were to be credited directly to beneficiaries only after work was completed, and payments were to be made within 14 days. “What is wrong with these provisions?” he asked.