BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accuses Mamata Banerjee govt of creating fake data to claim employment generation in rural Bengal, demands probe

On November 7, Monday BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari took to Twitter to share the letter he has written to Union Rural Development Minister Griraj Singh seeking an investigation against Mamata Bannerjee administration in West Bengal. Asking for a CBI probe or a probe by any central agency, the BJP leader alleged that the WB Govt was creating ‘fake’ jobs and misusing the job holder details to create false employment data.

WB Govt is maliciously creating ‘fake’ data in order to claim false employment generation in rural Bengal to deceive the people of WB before upcoming Panchayat Elections.
I have written a letter to Hon’ble Union Rural Development Minister Shri @girirajsinghbjp Ji regarding this: pic.twitter.com/bos1VhHCQs

— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) November 7, 2022

According to the letter, the Mamata Banerjee government was engaging in a novel malevolent practise of manufacturing bogus data and portraying that her administration was creating jobs in the state. Adhikari asserted that this was done to deceive the people of Bengal, particularly those living in the rural zone, ahead of the state’s Panchayat elections.

“The Administration is actively pursuing the malicious agenda to produce unsubstantiated data so that the West Bengal Government can claim that they have been effective in generating employment even after the Central Government; especially the Ministry of Rural Development has curtailed the funds for the MGNREGA Scheme,” read the letter addressed to Union Rural Development Minister Griraj Singh.

Alleging that the details of the Job Card holders are being used arbitrarily and at whim by the Mamata Banerjee administration, the BJP leader said that if an audit is conducted the following facts would certainly be revealed:

• The Jobs/Works against such “so-called employment” has been generated are mostly fake. The Administration won’t be able to provide the Work Orders or Tender Details of the Jobs/Works to tally such employment.
• The mode of payment to the labourers is questionable & lacks clarity. An inquiry must be done whether the payment has been made in cash. If so, then who made such payment & for which job? Whether the person/agency making such payment has been actually assigned to execute such a job. And if the payment has been made through account transfer, in that scenario the Administration must come clean regarding the money trail.
• A large number of Job Card holders’ details seem to be fake. The figures for the Job Card holders are hugely exaggerated. If compared to the 2011 Census it would be found that the job cards issued in a Block seem to outnumber the people residing in that area.

Saying so, BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari urged Union Rural Development Minister Griraj Singh to launch an investigation against Mamata Bannerjee administration in West Bengal.