Hazaribagh, June 25: Rajya Sabha MP Mabel Rebello, who called on district officials here today, said the objective of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) had been completely defeated in Hazaribagh.

Rebello, who is a member of the Centre’s NREGS monitoring committee, expressed dissatisfaction over the “low allocation” in different blocks and directed district officials to spend Rs 1 crore a month on every block instead of Rs 50 lakh. “I will talk to the chief secretary and ask him to announce this officially.”

The MP’s largesse, however, came with a strict rider. She said the job scheme was meant to benefit the poor and not officials entrusted with the task of implementing it. “I will not spare anyone who misuses NREGS funds,” she said.

During her visits to Gumla and Simdega last year, Rebello had found large-scale irregularities and following her recommendation, a high-level inquiry was conducted. “I am not here to book officials without reason. But if there is inefficiency and corruption, action will be taken.”

The MP said through NREGS, the UPA government was trying to ensure that every woman and child got two square meals a day. “But their future will be at stake if the scheme fails because of laggard officials. Achieve your target to make the scheme efficient.”

After her meeting with district officials, she said money sanctioned from her MP’s local area development fund was lying unused. “This is so unfortunate,” she said.

Local Congress MLA Saurabh Narayan Singh was the only one who earned a pat from the MP. Singh is learnt to have sent a detailed report to Rebello for widening the arterial Korrah Chowk-Indrapuri road, a project involving a cost of Rs 12 crore.