Kendrapara, July 16: Upendranath Behera of Bankeswar village under Singiri gram panchayat of Aul block died on August 12, 2006, following which the government-run Aul community health centre issued a death certificate on September 14.

However in 2013, Rs 3,000 has been transferred to his account as he had "worked" for 30 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Dead men have come alive to draw wages from accounts under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Scheme in some pockets of Kendrapara district.

The beneficiaries, who are no more, still figure in the muster rolls, and wage remuneration has been drawn against their names. With irregularities coming to the fore, an administrative inquiry has been ordered into the lapse.

The much-publicised employment generation programme reeks of severe corruption at several villages of Kendrapara district. Like Behera - Kalinidi Rout, Durga Charan Mallik and Pitambar Lenka, too, are "drawing wages" from the rural job scheme though they all died much ago.

The implementation of Centre's flagship poverty alleviation project is mired in a series of corrupt practices. Not only money has been fraudulently drawn against the dead, but also funds are being misused by way of enlisting ghost beneficiaries and fake muster rolls. The norms of the labour intensive programme have also been violated at several villages with machines found to be doing manual labour, said rights activist Gayadhar Dhal.

The unscrupulous government employees from panchayat to block levels, along with the deceased's greedy relatives, gobbled up the government grants. The scam needs to be thoroughly inquired into and the people involved in it should be put behind the bars, he said.

"The administration has received reports of the act wage payment to the beneficiaries, who are dead. The matter is being investigated. Besides, other forms of misuse of central funds have also come to notice. Instances of fake muster roll and undeserving job card-holders, machines doing the work of manual labour have also been reported from some places. Stringent action would be initiated against the offenders after the probe is over. The sum fraudulently withdrawn would be recovered from unworthy recipients and beneficiaries under the Orissa Public Recovery of Debt Act," said Kendrapara collector Debraj Senapati.