NEW DELHI, July 5: The Congress vice president Jitendra Prasada today demanded an inquiry by the CBI or any appropriate authority into the alleged diversion of Panchayati Raj funds to other projects by the West Bengal Government.

Talking to newspersons here, Prasada demanded that the Central Government should take effective steps to find out the truth behind the allegation. The State Government by its action had deprived millions of people from getting financial help under the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) by diverting the funds to other projects, he said.

He said that according to his information the West Bengal Government misused, diverted and misapproriated funds to the tune of several hundred crore and deprived poorer sections of the society from financial aid under several schemes.

``When the clandestine operations in all the districts are thoroughly investigated it would reveal how CPI-M, a cadre-based party, has deliberately sabotaged financial rules and regulations to tighten its stranglehold on the state,'' he said. This had been going on for several years, he alleged.

``We hope that the CPI-M, a constitutent of the UF, will not come in the way of unravelling the full dimensions of this scandal,'' Pasada said, adding ``we would not allow this at any cost''.

He also referred to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which had suggested that ``the West Bengal treasury has been quitely looted for several years by a crafty bureaucrat-political nexus.''

Prasada drew the attention of Prime Minister I K Gujral to his commitment to root out corruption from the society as well as from the administration urging him to have the matter examined and take appropriate action.

He justified and supported the bandh observed by the West Bengal unit of the party and congratulated the party workers for exposing the racket. He said, ``The party is solidly behind the West Bengal unit's stand on the subject''. He said some Bengali newspapers had reported that two senior West Bengal ministers were trying to cover up the scandal. ``I am sure popular vigilance will defeat this cover up attempt,'' he said.