Ludhiana, Oct 23 (IANS): Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari Wednesday pulled up Ludhiana district administration officials for poor utilisation of central funds made available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Presiding over a meeting of the district vigilance and monitoring committee here Tewari, the Ludhiana member of parliament, took strong exception to the low expenditure of central funds on various developmental schemes.

He said only Rs.11 crore was spent against a target of spending Rs.150 crore in Ludhiana district. An angry Tewari said state government officials had come to the meeting without any preparation. He asked deputy commissioner Rajat Aggarwal to enquire why so little money had been spent.

Tewari said a district in Rajasthan, ruled by the Congress, spent nearly Rs.2,000 crore under MGNREGA.

"There is no reason why Ludhiana could not spend the targeted amount, particularly when there were no budgetary restrictions on expenditure under the scheme as it was need-based," Tewari said.