Krishnagar, March 19: The state is desperately diverting funds from laggard districts to ensure that around Rs 550 crore under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme does not go back to Delhi.

The money, now being sent to the districts that have utilised their quota better, has to be spent by March 31.

Panchayat department officials said Bengal had been provided Rs 1,235 crore between April and December 2007 for the scheme that guarantees 100 days’ work to every rural household.

Because of the state’s inability to spend the money, the Centre has held back the Rs 600 crore that it was supposed to give in January.

“The Centre has asked us to utilise the money to avoid a funds slash during the next financial year. We are hurrying up to spend the Rs 550 crore by March 31,” said Bankim Ghosh, the junior panchayat and rural development minister.

East Midnapore, North and South 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Bankura, South Dinajpur and Malda had, by the minister’s own admission, “failed miserably” in providing 100 days’ employment to the poor. “So, we are diverting their money to performing districts like Burdwan, West Midnapore, Purulia and Jalpaiguri.”

East Midnapore received a maximum allocation of Rs 160 crore possibly because it includes Nandigram. But the district could spend only Rs 23 crore.

North 24-Parganas spent less than a fourth of the Rs 80 crore it got.

“We have asked all these districts to return the unspent money to us. We will distribute it among the performing districts,” Ghosh said.

The step, he added, was being taken with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s approval. “The chief minister welcomed the decision. He told us we should not sit on funds meant for such an important scheme.”

Ghosh said Birbhum, Purulia, Burdwan, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar have performed very well. “Birbhum received Rs 125 crore and spent nearly Rs 100 crore.”

Murshidabad spent Rs 51 crore out of Rs 54 crore and Burdwan Rs 64 crore out of Rs 86 crore. West Midnapore, which had got Rs 82 crore, spent Rs 64 crore.

After the failure to implement the scheme, the government has decided to recruit 4,000 people at the panchayat level to oversee the task next year.