A file photo used for representational purpose only.

An alleged fraud under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has come to light in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, with more than a dozen individuals shown as labourers and wages withdrawn in their names.

“The scam was unearthed in Atarasi village under the Panwasa block of Sambhal district,” officials said. The current village head, Sunita Yadav, is accused of generating job cards in the names of deceased villagers and withdrawing wages by falsely showing ‘work completed’ on paper.

The district administration confirmed that an investigation is under way and recovery has been initiated from the village head. “The case came to my notice around seven months ago. An inquiry was ordered at that time,” Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya told reporters.

“When the misappropriation in any case is below 10%, we proceed with recovery from the concerned official. In this case, a misappropriation of ₹1.05 lakh was found. The recovery is being made from the village head. Other developmental works in the village are also being investigated,” he added. Among those listed as labourers was a principal of an inter college.

Rishipal Singh, principal of Mulayam Singh Yadav Inter College, said, “A job card was made in my name without my knowledge. I have never worked under MGNREGA, yet my name appeared in the records and money was withdrawn. I was even called in for questioning during the inquiry.”

Local resident Sanjeev Kumar said, “My grandfather Jagat Singh passed away in 2020. We had no idea that wages were being withdrawn in his name. We only found out when officials came to the village to investigate. We have heard that job cards were created in the names of nearly a dozen deceased individuals.”

Nirmal Das, the main complainant in the case, alleged that job cards were made even in the name of the village head’s deceased father-in-law and several of her family members. “Money from government funds were withdrawn in the name of bogus labourers. Some of these people don’t even live in the village anymore. Yet their identities were used to siphon off funds,” Mr. Das said.

A Central Government initiative, the MGNREGA provides at least 100 days of guaranteed employment in a year to rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Watch: The new forces shaping subcontinental geopolitics | The Huddle 2025

Former president and prime minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe has mooted the idea of India taking a lead in ensuring the emergence of South Asia as the “most powerful region”.

Participating in a session titled ‘In the hood: The new forces shaping subcontinental geopolitics’ at the fifth edition of The Hindu Huddle organised by The Hindu Group, in Bengaluru, Mr. Wickremesinghe observed that the South Asian region would account for a population size of 2.7 billion in the total world population of 9.8 billion while its combined economy would be around 43 billion dollars.

T. S. Tirumurti, former permanent representative of India to the United Nations, said India should take a geopolitical role that goes beyond the sub-continent. The sooner we do it, he said, the more important it will be.

The session was hosted by Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs editor.

Read more: Ranil Wickremesinghe moots idea of India taking a lead in ensuring emergence of South Asia as most powerful region

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| Photo Credit: The Hindu

In response to a petition in the Bombay High Court on the safety of married and unmarried inter-faith and inter-caste couples in Maharashtra and also the increasing cases of attacks on the couples, the Home department of the Maharashtra government has issued Government Resolution (GR) on May 13, 2025, notifying a nine-point standard operating procedure (SOP) for safe housing and protection of inter-faith and inter-caste couples.  

Senior advocate Mihir Desai, along with advocates Lara Jesani and Rishika Agarwal for the petitioners had pressed for implementation of Supreme Court’s 2018 Shakti Vahini guidelines which provides safe house and protection to the couple, but these guidelines were not implemented in Maharashtra.   

On October 27, 2023, the Bombay High Court had directed the State Government to consider issuing a GR. On April 29, 2025, the Bombay High Court received a draft of the GR that said the State government would be dealing with safe house for inter-faith and inter-caste couples, both married and unmarried.

“We have gone through the said draft GR. Learned counsel for the Petitioner has also gone through the same. Since it covers almost every aspect, it is open for the State Government to issue GR in terms of the said draft GR within two weeks from today,” the court said. 

The GR says that a special district-level cell, led by the superintendent of police or commissioner as chairman of the cell in which district social welfare officer will be a member and district women and child development officer will be a member secretary. The cell shall take due cognizance of all types of complaints from the couples and shall take immediate action to protect them. The cell will be equipped to provide security and a safe house for couples in danger. The SOP encompasses a helpline, FIR registration procedures, free legal assistance, a district review committee, and mandated reporting to the government. 

The cell will ensure the couples are not minors before proceeding with investigations upon complaints. If they are adults and need a safe house, it should be provided to them at a low cost initially for a month and if the cell finds potential danger to the couple, the stay can extend to six months with a security guard and police protection upon request. The district collector of the region will coordinate the safe house arrangements, which may include government guest houses or rented private residences, funded by the social justice department. 

Self-declaration by couples mandatory

Couples must submit a self-declaration of voluntary marriage and age verification. If the police finds that either of the couple is a minor, they should check whether he or she has voluntarily joined each other or whether a case of missing or kidnapping or adoption has been registered against the minor. If the minors are involved, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) will be notified for protection. Complaints can be made confidentially via helpline 112, with immediate police response guaranteed for threats to life. If the minor is above 16 but below 18 years, his or her views shall be taken into consideration. Additionally, quarterly reports will be submitted to the state government by the director-general of police. 

The State or the District Family Services Authority shall provide free legal aid to the couples and if required, the couples should also be provided with counselling and marriage registration services to the adult couples.