Funds meant of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' misused: BJP leader Mahender Reddy

Karimnagar: BJP State leader Beti Mahender Reddy has cautioned that he would take the alleged misuse of funds in the implementation of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' programme in the district.

In a statement here on Friday he said the Central Government has allocated a total amount of Rs 93.70 lakh to Karimnagar district for the programme implementation for two years, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

The District Welfare Officer (DWO) and the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) have submitted reports falsely claiming that of the total funds, Rs 71.14 lakh has been spent.

They claimed to have taken up activities such as awareness paintings on the walls, conducting mobile campaigns in villages every day, printing and distributing leaflets, posters and stickers printed and pasted on the walls, engaging art groups, setting up signboards and taking animated pictures.

But in fact, no activity above mentioned was carried out. In addition to that, the officials in question have obtained approval from the District Price Committee (DPC) for conducting and making payments for above activities, Mahender Reddy complained.

He further noted that the MEPMA PD submitted a report to the District Collector on December 29, 2020 stating that all the videos and photos were taken without the approval from the DPC and the accounts submitted by DWO and DCPO were false.

The MEPMA PD had submitted a supplementary report on January 27, 2021. After a gap of four months the Collector issued show cause notices to the two officers on May 24, 2021 asking them to reply within seven days, but no action was taken even after 18 days passed by, Reddy said.

He demanded the Collector to answer why he was not taking action against the DWO and DCPO under PD Act for allegedly misappropriation of Central funds and robbing the money meant for girl child welfare.