Balangir, May 24: A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation officials arrived here today to probe into the alleged irregularities in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the district.

Led by CBI inspector S.S. Yadav, the team will inquire into the allegations of large-scale irregularities in the rural job scheme during 2006-07.

“We will conduct inquiry till we come to a logical end. We have not been asked to conduct the inquiry with in a stipulated period of time,” said Yadav.

The CBI official said that the main focus of the inquiry would be whether the scheme had been implemented in the spirit so as to benefit the rural population of the district. “The scheme is meant to provide jobs to the rural people. We will examine whether the district administration had taken care to implement the scheme in the right earnest,” he said.

Yadav also said the CBI team would find out whether funds meant for the scheme had been diverted to other work. “We will see whether money meant for work under the scheme being utilised for other works. There were such complaints,” he said.

He said that use of machine is not allowed in the scheme works. “We will examine whether such complaints are true. If such allegations are found to be true, it is gross violation of the scheme guidelines,” said Yadav.

He said they would make field visit wherever it was necessary.

In 2006-07, a Delhi-based voluntary organisation, Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), had surveyed 10 villages in Turekela block of Balangir district. The survey report said job cards had been issued in all the 10 villages and no rural employment project had been taken up under the scheme in eight of the villages.

The Supreme Court, on May 12, directed the CBI to probe into the alleged irregularities in the scheme in Balangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada districts and submit its first status report in six months.

The directive of the apex court came in response to a PIL filed by the CEFS.

Director of the CEFS Parshuram Ray, who had filed the PIL, alleged large-scale irregularities in the implementation of the scheme and siphoning off of central funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore by the implementing agencies.

The CESF had made a startling revelation that 75 per cent of central funds meant for implementation of the scheme had been pilfered.