Hyderabad: A social audit of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREG) programme in Andhra Pradesh has established that a total of Rs 109 crore were "deviated" since its launch.
Of the amount, Rs 46.94 crore were found to have been "misappropriated", according to the state Minister for Rural Development, Dokka Mankiya Varaprasad.
Of the misappropriated sum, we have so far recovered Rs 17.5 crore," the minister told reporters after releasing the 2012 diary of his department here today.
"We have brought out an ordinance to punish guilty persons. The aim of the ordinance is to strengthen the social audit system and stop corruption," Varaprasad said.
The minister said Andhra Pradesh had been ranked No 1 in the country in the implementation of MNREG programme, with a total expenditure of Rs 2,921.5 crore in the current financial year, followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 2,913 crore) and Rajasthan (Rs 1,950 crore).
Varaprasad said the number of wage employment days had been increased to 200 from 125 per household in 865 mandals in the state that had been declared as drought-hit.
Rural Development Principal Secretary R Subrahmanyam, Commissioner Jayalakshmi and other officials were present on this occasion.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 06, 2012, 18:16