Lucknow, March 13 (IANS) The Congress party Sunday formed a high-level committee to monitor the implementation of central government funded welfare schemes in Uttar Pradesh.

State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi was named the convenor of the committee.

The other members are All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Digvijay Singh, UP Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari, State Legislative Council Congress leader Naseeb Pathan, besides union ministers Sriprakash Jaiswal, Pradeep Jain, Jitin Prasada, Beni Prasad Verma and R.P.N. Singh.

According to state Congress spokesman Subodh Srivastava, "the committee will monitor the implementation of 16 centrally funded development and welfare oriented schemes including key programmes like NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) and NRHM (National Rural Health Mission)."

Congress leaders, including general secretary Rahul Gandhi, have on several occasions accused the Uttar Pradesh government of "missappropriatiing" and "misusing" central funds.