Patna,(BiharTimes): In a rare development the Bihar government on Wednesday rejected CAG findings on the MNREGA and dubbed it as totally “untrue and deceptive” even as the chief minister Nitish Kumar wrote to the Centre that implementation of rural job scheme was suffering due to non-availability of funds.

In a letter to Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh he said “I have recently reviewed the implementation of MGNREGA in the state and it has been noticed that progress of implementation is suffering due to non-availability of funds.” 

The letter further said that “It is alarming to note that during the year 2012-13, in spite of the approval of the Labour Budget by ministry of rural development, not a single regular instalment has been released to the state.

According to the letter the Ministry of Rural Development had approved a Labour Budget of Rs. 3,44,645 lakh. As per provision, 50 per cent is required to be released as first instalment but so far only two ad hoc release of Rs. 700 crore and Rs. 234 crore has been made.

Nitish pointed out that 2,167 out of 8,442 gram panchayats of the state have less than Rs one lakh left. The state government has already put in state resources to the tune of Rs. 462 crore as advance to bridge the gap. He urged Jairam Ramesh to release at least Rs 1,000 crore immediately to Bihar.

In a related development the state government on Wednesday disputed the CAG report on MNGREGA, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The report said that only 20 per cent of the central resources were utilised in Bihar.

Bihar rural development minister Nitish Mishra said in a statement that the CAG report is totally untrue and deceptive.