Rautahat, July 20

Residents of Mathiya, Ward No 4, Ishnath Rural Municipality, took the  ward secretary under control and handed him over to police on the charge of embezzling nutrition grant meant for children in Rautahat, yesterday.

Rautahat is one of the worst malnutrition affected districts.

Earlier, the government had announced it would providing monthly allowance of Rs 400 for two children below five years of age from each household of the district.

According to sources, Ward Secretary Rajdev Ram did not distribute the money to the kids for the period between mid-January and mid-February.

The government had started releasing the fund from mid-January for immediate distribution through local units.

However, Ward Secretary Ram started distributing the allowance only from March. The locals accused him of taking the past months’ allowances for himself.

According to locals, Ram had prepared fake documents that showed transactions for the earlier months and this prompted them to take him under control and hand him over to police.

Ram Naresh Kushwaha, a local, demanded stern action against Ram for alleged misappropriation of the fund.

More than 500 locals reached Rautahat district headquarters in Gaur today to pressure the local administration not to release the defaulter without punishing him.

District Police Office, Rautahat Spokesperson DSP Nabin Krishna Bhandari said the ward secretary had been kept in police custody following the public complaint against him.

He also said investigation into the case was under way.