Photographs Of Deepika Padukone, Other Actors On Fake MNREGA Job Cards In Madhya Pradesh

In a recent MNREGA fraud case in Madhya Pradesh, a picture of a job card of Sonu Shantilal is going viral. What is special about this card is the photograph pasted on it. Adjacent to the name and residential credentials of Sonu Shantilal,  a glamorous picture of Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone can be seen.

These fake MNREGA job cards carrying photographs of Deepika Padukone and 10 other film stars have been circulating and claiming wages from Peeparkheda Naka village in the Jhirnia panchayat.   

Jhirnia district officials believe that these fake job cards have been used to claim lakh of rupees as wages for employment activities which were never undertaken in the first place. Considering an example, according to the fake job card, Sonu Shantilal was paid for building a drain near his village. 

When asked, Sonu Shantilal and others against whose names these cards have been issued claims to have no idea how these cards were made. According to Sonu Shantilal, he hasn’t claimed a single day’s work. 

The CEO of the district Panchayat took a tough stance against the fraudsters and ordered an inquiry into how these cards were printed and wages were released. 

"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 In the last few days, large amounts of money have been withdrawn and muster rolls filled.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," Gaurav Banal said. 

For the uninitiated, Jhirnia is the same district Panchayat that previously won public praise for having paid out 100 percent of allotted wages for employment under the MNREGA scheme.