Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Gopal Bhargava today said in the Assembly that a total of 1.15 crore job cards have been prepared under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NERGS) while the number of beneficiaries has been only 40 lakh in the state. Addressing the House during a call attention motion, the Minister said that even while there were 40 lakh beneficiaries under NREGS it did not mean all with a job card were being paid. Those beneficiaries, who had actually worked under the scheme were being paid and the amount being credited into their account. He said that a probe had been ordered to look into the cases of material purchased under the scheme at Rajgarh and excess job cards prepared than the sanctioned limit in some of the panchayats on the allegations by some opposition members. Congress members Govind Singh and Hemraj Kalponi while raising the issue during the call attention motion alleged that rampant corruption had taken place in the implementation of NREGS scheme in Rajgarh district. Dr Singh said that the State Forest Department had been chosen as the nodal agency to implement NREGS for 31 development projects at various Panchayats in Rajgarh district till July 31 this year. He said that an official on whom Lokayukt inquiry was being conducted in Rajgarh district had been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). The same person was later appointed as the Divisional Forest officer and offered full work for NREGS in the district. The member also demanded that the entire matter be investigated by a Director or Commissioner implementing NREGS. In his reply, the Minister said he would send a team of senior officers to Rajgarh for investigation. ''If the complaints are found to be genuine, action would be taken against the guilty,'' Bhargava assured. Congress member Hemraj Kalponi alleged that the Biyapura Panchayat in the district has population of 3077 where 1160 job cards had been prepared costing Rs 1.20 crore. A similar picture emerges in the Panchayats of Bakhed and Pipiliya. The member demanded that excess number of job cards had been prepared in the aforesaid panchayats and demanded a probe into the matter. The Minister stated that if Kalponi suspects there had been irregularities committed, a probe would certainly be ordered.