Madhya Pradesh: Bollywood actors including Deepika Padukone on fake MNREGA job cards

One of the most popular star of Hindi film industry Deepika Padukone is working as migrant labour in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district. This is what a MNREGA job card carrying her photograph would tell you, reported NDTV.

Issued in the name of Sonu Shantilal, Manoj Dubey and several other villagers, fake Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) cards carry glamorous photographs of Deepika and other film stars and celebrities. The cards have been circulating and claiming wages from Peeparkheda Naka village in the Jhirnia panchayat.

Officials believe lakhs of rupees have been claimed on these fake cards as wages for activities that were never undertaken in the first place. For example, according to the cards Sonu Shantilal was paid for building a drain near his village, reported NDTV.

Several other fake card have been paid for digging ponds and repairing canals. A sum of ₹ 30,000 has been withdrawn each month against a card in Mr Dubey's name.

Whereas, Shantilal and others whose names are on these fake cards say they have no idea how this happened. According to Shantilal and Dubey, neither has claimed a single day's MNREGA work. Interestingly, Dubey has 50 acres of farmland and said he never had a MNREGA job card made.

"I don't know how this card was made. They replaced my wife's picture with Deepika," Sonu Shantilal said, alleging that the panchayat secretary and employment assistant were involved in committing this fraud, reported NDTV.

The CEO of the district panchayat has ordered an inquiry into how these cards were printed and wages released. Action will be taken against the guilty, he declared.

"Information on 11 job cards with pictures of celebrities has come to my notice. In the last few days large amounts of money have been withdrawn and muster rolls filled. We will find out how the job cards were issued and how these pictures were taken. Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty in the investigation," NDTV quoted Gaurav Banal as saying.

It is worth mentioning here that Jhirnia is the same district panchayat in Madhya Pradesh that was praised for having paid out 100 per cent of allotted wages for employment under the MNREGA scheme.