The Centre has been clearing the decks to raise uncomfortable questions to the Bengal government on the alleged siphoning of funds under the 100 days' job scheme through deleted job cards.

“The Centre has asked the state to send a detailed report on deleted job cards. Questions have been asked on whether proper processes have been followed while cancelling job cards. The state government has asked the districts to send a panchayat-wise report on the deleted job cards. On receiving reports from the districts, the report will be sent to Delhi,” said a senior Nabanna official.

Sources aware of the development said 36.37 lakh job cards were deleted since the inception of the scheme in Bengal in 2008. The number of deleted workers stands at 1.26 crore during the same period.

“But the Centre is curious about the job cards deleted between 2019-20 and 2021-22. The details of the deleted jobs cards can reveal whether funds were transferred to the bank accounts linked with the deleted job cards,” another official said.

Raising questions over deleted job cards assumes significance as the BJP Nandigram MLA and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has been repeatedly alleging that the Trinamul has siphoned a handsome amount allotted under the 100 days’ job scheme through fake job cards. Adhikari had also alleged that many of the fake job cards were deleted when the government sensed an inquiry was inevitable.

An official explained how and why job cards were deleted or a worker's name was deleted from a job card.

“A job card is issued to a family living in the rural areas. If there is more than one member in the family, the names of all workers would be registered on the job card. If the entire family migrates to a different state or withdraws their names, the job card is cancelled or deleted. In case any one member migrates or withdraws his or her name, that particular name would be struck off but the card remains with the names of other members,” said the official.

At regular intervals, authorities verify the job cards. In case any member remains absent in the hearing, he is served a notice. If the worker does not respond to three such notices, his name could be struck off.

Now, the BJP alleged that crores were siphoned through fake job cards in Bengal. Officials said siphoning of funds is possible through the fake job cards if funds are transferred to accounts registered against fake names in the job cards.

"But before that, gram panchayats have to prepare fake muster rolls by using fake job cards.... Although using fake cards is almost impossible now as the Centre has made tagging of Aadhaar mandatory with job cards, the situation was different a few years ago," said a source.

Sources said that the Centre wanted to know whether all processes were followed before the job cards were deleted. If the processes were not followed while deleting the job cards, it raises suspicion that the cards were not issued against original workers. Moreover, if the cards were cancelled, there should be some reason behind this. The Centre wants to know why, said a senior official.

Furthermore, the Centre wants to get the details of the deleted job cards as it would help check whether funds were transferred to these workers' accounts, how much and when, said sources.

Sources in the panchayat department said that initially the Centre was sending teams to find out whether schemes were carried out on the ground and was trying to find out if funds were misused.

But after the state sent action-taken reports on the recommendations sent by the Centre after the release of funds under the 100 days' job scheme was stopped, the Centre picked up the deleted job card issue.

"It now seems that the Centre has concentrated its attention on the deleted job card issue. It is still not clear how many job cards were cleared between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Once we get reports from the districts, we will be able to spell the exact details," said a source.

A state BJP leader said that they had sent enough documents to the Union ministry of rural development, showing funds were transferred to accounts linked to fake job cards, which meant embezzlement had occurred in those instances.

“Now, the inquiry by the ministry will expose the quantum of funds embezzled under the scheme in the name of giving jobs to the rural poor in Bengal,” he said.