Story of a whistle blower (or how Jagjit Singh became an MNREGA labourer)

Had Deepak Thakur (of Ranabxy fame) been in India, he would not have been a hero but an unsung zero, a la Swapan Kumar Tiwari.

Tiwari, according to a report in Times of India, blew the lid off a scam in MNREGA smart cards and was chucked out of his own company.

And what was the scam he laid bare? That there are anomalies in smart cards his company FINO is issuing to MNREGA labourers on behalf of Union Bank of India.

[caption id=“attachment_791075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Late Jagjit Singh[/caption]

According to the report, Union Bank smart cards were issued with photos of well-known people like late gazal maestro Jagjit Singh, Uddhav Thackeray and Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh. There are many such cards, with photos of celebrities and names of locals in the state, the report said.

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The cards were issued by the bank in 2009-10 in Madhya Pradesh, and were later linked to MNREGA payments.

However, the authorities do not see any major scam in this. According to Shiv Narayan Rupla, collector, Kaitha Gangeo district, where the card with Chhattisgarh chief minister was spotted, had the cards been issued to siphon off money, they would not have carried photos of well-known people.

An assistant general manager of the bank is of the opinion that frauds are unlikely as there are finger prints on the cards. Moreover, they are just identity cards which can’t be used for transactions.

But Tiwari alleges corruption in the whole affair.

Read the full report here.