J&K minister offers to resign after allegations of corruption

Jammu, January 16

Jammu and Kashmir Rural Development minister Abdul Haq Khan on Tuesday offered to resign after a Congress legislator levelled allegations of corruption against him in the implementation of a centrally-sponsored scheme.

“I will leave the ministry if the allegations of corruption are proved right,” Khan said in the Legislative Assembly after Congress MLA from Banihal Vikar Rasool raised the issue of alleged malpractices in the MGNREGA scheme.

Unsatisfied with the answer of the minister, Rasool staged a walkout from the Assembly.

“I am serious about my words. There are Rs 9 crore liabilities pending in my district for the past two years even as MGNREGA makes it clear that the workers are given their payment within 15 days,” Rasool told reporters outside the House.

He said he raised the issue to seek an independent probe into the alleged malpractices and corruption in the rural development schemes “but the government, instead of taking a serious note of the issue, tried to put a veil”.

“The government has destroyed this scheme and unless there is accountability nothing will improve,” he said, reiterating his allegations of large-scale corruption against the minister.

“Order a probe in the advertisement scam and if the minister is not found involved, I will resign,” Rasool said.

He claimed that the government had released payment under the MGNREGA scheme recently but in “my district, only a meagre amount of a few lakhs was released. Our people are facing a lot of hardships due to non-payment”. PTI