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The administration in Sant Kabir Nagar has initiated punitive action against 24 field personnel following the detection of widespread irregularities and an attempt to embezzle public funds under the VB-G Ram G scheme. An official investigation uncovered manipulated worker attendance records and duplicate photographic submissions across 17 development projects in 12 gram panchayats spanning five development blocks. In response, the Chief Development Officer directed that adverse entries be recorded in the service records of 12 Gram Panchayat and Gram Vikas Adhikaris. Furthermore, directives have been issued to terminate the contracts of eight Gram Rozgar Sevaks and de-register four female mates linked to the fraudulent muster rolls.
Review of Digital Monitoring System Unearths Duplicate Records
The anomalies came to light on October 30 during a video conference held by the Rural Development Commissioner to examine the management information system data for October. Discrepancies in muster roll maintenance and worker registration were identified in village panchayats across the Baghauli, Mehdawal, Nathnagar, Santha, and Semariyawan development blocks. Verification revealed that photographs uploaded to the National Mobile Monitoring System application to validate physical attendance were duplicate entries. The attendance records logged in the system were found to violate standard operating procedures and were marked as suspicious.
Initial scrutiny examined 37 muster rolls, identifying clear fraudulent practices in 27 documents associated with 17 ongoing infrastructure works. Following the identification of these irregularities on the state monitoring portal, the Rural Development Commissioner instructed the district’s Chief Development Officer to initiate immediate disciplinary and administrative measures against all responsible personnel.
District Administration Halts Payments and Cancels Questionable Rolls
Following the commissioner’s directives, Deputy Commissioner of Labour and Employment Dr. Prabhat Dwivedi issued formal instructions to Block Development Officers across the five blocks to ensure compliance. The administration ordered the immediate cancellation of all muster rolls containing bogus attendance marks and duplicate image uploads, clarifying that no wage payments would be disbursed based on these invalidated records. Directives were also issued to strike the names of the four implicated female mates from the official registry.
Authorities have initiated legal procedures to terminate the service contracts of the eight implicated employment assistants following their written explanations. In addition, adverse entries are being placed in the official records of the 12 involved village development secretaries. The district administration warned that should similar violations recur on the mobile tracking application, program officers and additional program officers at the block level will be held directly accountable and face administrative action.
Baghauli Block Reports Highest Concentration of Fraudulent Entries
Block-wise audit findings indicated that Baghauli experienced the highest concentration of irregularities, where 12 muster rolls across nine works in six gram panchayats were compromised. The audit placed secretaries and employment assistants under scrutiny in the panchayats of Aurangabad, Balushasan, Devapar, Hatwa, Baghua, and Samdaha, alongside personnel tied to Pasai, Atrinankar, and Amathari. In Santha block, six muster rolls related to four projects across three panchayats were marked as irregular.
Further violations were documented in Semariyawan, where six muster rolls across two projects in Dashawa gram panchayat were flagged. In Mehdawal and Nathnagar, irregularities were confirmed in Kauwathor and Tikuikol panchayats, affecting one and two muster rolls, respectively. Dr. Prabhat Dwivedi stated that payments for all contested works remain frozen, affirming that administrative and contractual penalties are proceeding and that negligence in public welfare schemes will not be tolerated.
